British opposition leader Keir Starmer said Wednesday the country was too slow in taking initial actions to respond to the spread of the coronavirus outbreak within its borders.
The U.K. has reported 97,847 confirmed coronavirus cases, 12,107 deaths, and 344 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Britain has a population of 66 million.
“I am worried that it looks like we are going to have a higher death rate than any other country in Europe and there will obviously be searching questions about why that has happened,” Mr. Starmer said on LBC radio.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson implemented a strict, countrywide lockdown on March 23, after several weeks of urging people to practice social distancing and refrain from traveling.
But new data from Britain’s Office for National Statistics revealed that the death toll within the country could be roughly 15% higher than reported figures.
The data shows that an additional 6,235 people who had died by April 3 in spaces such as nursing homes, had mentions of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, on their death certificates.
“I did think the government was going too slowly,” Mr. Starmer said. “We will have to look back in due course.”
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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