Fourth Lockdown: UK Faces "Rough Winter"

Several experts warned a fourth lockdown may be needed. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not ruled out the prospect of further lockdowns again as he says the UK faces a "rough winter".

Boris Johnson said on Monday it is “looking good” for 19 July to be the “terminus point” to England’s coronavirus restrictions.

Johnson also did not rule out putting the country back under lockdown later this year, despite previously saying lifting lockdown would be "irreversible".

He said: “You can never exclude that there will be some new disease, some new horror that we simply haven't budgeted for or accounted for.

"Obviously there are big pressures on the NHS, which is all the more reason to reduce the number of COVID cases now, give the NHS the breathing space it needs to get on with dealing with all those other pressures."

He added: "We're certainly going to be putting in the investment to make sure that they can," but said the country could be in for a "rough winter for all sorts of reasons".

It comes after several experts warned a fourth lockdown may be needed.

Sage member Professor Calum Semple said children and elderly people will be vulnerable to other endemic viruses in the coming months, with the possibility of a “fourth wave winter”.

Semple told Times Radio on Sunday morning: “I suspect we’ll have a pretty miserable winter because the other respiratory viruses are going to come back and bite us quite hard. But after that, I think we’ll be seeing business as normal next year.