Covid UK news: Country faces tens of thousands of deaths in second wave, Sage expert warns

The UK faces “tens of thousands” more coronavirus deaths in the epidemic’s second wave, Sage expert Professor John Edmunds has warned. The outlook was “gloomy”, the infectious disease specialist told MPs.

He said: "We're already in Liverpool... elective operations are already being cancelled, so we're already at the stage where that's under strain. Elsewhere in the northwest in particular but also in the North and Yorkshire, it's not very far behind.

"So we are already at the point or getting close to the point where the health service in much of the North will be under strain in the next few weeks.

"Even if we stopped things now, cases and hospitalisations would continue to go up. I think if you look at where we are, there's no way we come out of this wave now without counting our deaths in the tens of thousands."

In northern England, Sheffield mayor Dan Jarvis warned that “inaction was not an option” as he announced the move to Tier 3 measures from Saturday and called on local people to follow the new restrictions to prevent further fatalities.

And Boris Johnson was accused of trying to “pick off” Greater Manchester councils one-by-one to bypass the mayor, Andy Burnham.

Meanwhile, Labour warned that tier 3 restrictions were a “gateway to months of agony” for businesses and communities. Sir Keir Starmer voiced fears that tier 3 status offered regions “the worst of all worlds”, inflicting significant harm on their economies without freeing them from the virus.

Read more: What restrictions are there in tier 3 areas?

It came as Nicola Sturgeon announced that hospitality restrictions in Scotland would be extended for one week and as Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner accused Boris Johnson of trying to play a “spiteful little game” with local leaders in Greater Manchester.