London :
Britain on Sunday said its criticised plan to deal with coronavirus was designed to “protect life” in a “sustainable” manner as it prepared to unveil “wartime-style” measures to tackle the outbreak.
The government has yet to implement the kind of tough measures that continental Europe has adopted, but health minister Matt Hancock said Sunday it would announce emergency powers on Tuesday, which are expected to include a ban on mass gatherings.
“We are absolutely ready to do that,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge. “We’ll take the right action at the right time,” he said, adding that “the time is coming.”
Britain’s death toll from the disease rose on Sunday as health officials announced 14 more people had died, bringing the total number of fatalities to 35.
Official figures showed the country has 1,372 confirmed cases — an increase of 232 from the day before.
Critics have accused the government of not acting quickly enough to contain the spread, but the government has said that it is taking the advice of experts, including behavioural scientists, on when to deploy the measures.
“The goal here is to protect life, the measures have to be sustainable,” he later told the BBC. “We will stop at nothing to fight this virus”.
