Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain was now past the peak of its coronavirus outbreak and promised to set out a lockdown exit strategy next week, despite rising deaths and criticism of his government's response.
Holding his first news conference since recovering from COVID-19, and a day after his fiancee gave birth, Johnson offered hope to locked-down Britons but urged them to stick with restrictions designed to slow the spread of the virus.
"I can confirm today that for the first time, we are past the peak of this disease. We're past the peak and we're on the downward slope, and we have so many reasons to be hopeful for the long term," Johnson said.
Britain now has the second-highest official COVID-19 death toll in Europe with more than 26,000 deaths.