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Britain's lockdown may last for six months - official

LONDON, March 29 (KUNA) -- British Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jenny Harries has warned the nationwide lockdown imposed by the government to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus may last for six months or more.
Britons should not expect to get back to normal life for six months or even longer, Harries laid it bare in a press conference on Sunday.
She, however, noted that the government will review the policy every three weeks.
"The issue of the three weeks is for us to review where we are and see if we've had an impact jointly on the slope of that curve," Harries noted.
The senior doctor argued that even the lockdown policy bore fruits, it will not suitable to rush to end it once the curve is flattened.
"But I think to make it clear to the public if we are successful we will have squashed the top of that curve, which is brilliant, but we must not then suddenly revert to our normal way of living that would be quite dangerous," she clarified.
"If we stop then all of our efforts will be wasted and we could potentially see a second peak. So over time, probably over the next six months, we will have a three-week review." Earlier, the UK Health Office said the UK coronavirus death toll rose by 209 in 24 hours to 1,228 and the overall number of infected cases upped to 19,522. (pickup previous) kd.ibi