England at COVID-19 ‘Tipping Point,’ Braces for More Restrictions

People, some wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walk along the bank of the River Tyne, near the Tyne Bridge, in Newcastle, northeast England on Sept. 29, 2020, after tighter restrictions were put in place to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images

LONDON—Millions of people in northern England are anxiously waiting to hear how much virus restrictions will be tightened as one of the British government’s leading medical advisers warned on Oct. 11 that the country is at a crucial juncture in the second wave of the coronavirus.

England’s deputy chief medical officer, professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said the UK is at a “tipping point similar to where we were in March” following a sharp increase in new coronavirus cases.