Britain faces its darkest chapter of the pandemic yet
More people died in Britain last year than in any year in the past century, and the toll has surpassed even that of the 1918 flu pandemic, the government’s statistical agency reported on Tuesday.
But officials warn that the worst is yet to come, as a recent explosion in new coronavirus infections translates into more hospitalizations and more deaths. An estimated one in 30 people in London is currently infected, and hospitals are on the verge of being overwhelmed, even as the authorities struggle to convince the public of the moment’s urgency.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with his cabinet on Tuesday to discuss ways to tighten what are already some of Europe’s most sweeping restrictions.
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In other developments:
government-commissioned report found a shocking number of deaths and widespread emotional abuse over a period of decades at religious institutions in Ireland where unmarried women and girls were sent to give birth in secrecy and were pressured to give their children up for adoption.
About56,000 unmarried mothers and 57,000 children went through the so-called mother and baby homes, the six-year investigation found. Over a 76-year period, some 9,000 children died. The last of the facilities closed in 1998.
Official remarks: The report outlined a “a dark, difficult and shameful chapter” of the country’s past, said Ireland’s leader, or Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, adding, “We did this
