Coronavirus: Britain’s Boris Johnson mulls longer lockdown amid fears of second wave of infections

The UK has the world’s fifth-worst official death toll, and scientists say it will only start to decline in another couple of weeks

Budget forecasters say Britain’s economy could be heading into its deepest recession in more than 300 years

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Britain’s government has come under fire for being slower than its European peers to impose a lockdown. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:25pm, 24 Apr 2020Updated: 10:30pm, 24 Apr 2020

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces the biggest conundrum of his premiership as he recuperates from the coronavirus: how to lift a lockdown that is destroying swathes of the UK economy without triggering a deadly second wave of the outbreak.

Johnson, 55, is on the mend at his country residence after spending three nights in intensive care at a London hospital earlier this month with Covid-19 complications. He later said he owed his life to the hospital staff.

But as speculation mounts that the prime minister is preparing to return to work, Johnson is under pressure to explain just how and when the world’s fifth largest economy will exit the crippling lockdown.

“He sounded incredible. He was ready to go,” US President Donald Trump said on Thursday of how Johnson sounded on a call they had two days earlier.

“It’s like the old Boris,” Trump said. “He’s doing great.”

Johnson’s government, which was slower than European peers to impose a lockdown, has come under fire for its limited testing capacity and for failing to deliver enough personal protective equipment to front-line health workers.

Volunteers pack food into boxes for people in need at a temporary food bank in London on April 22, 2020. Photo: AFP

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Johnson is planning to return to work as early as Monday, and his health minister, Matt Hancock, described the prime minister as cheerful, ebullient and getting much better.

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