Europe’s second coronavirus wave is starting to overshadow the first

By Michael le page

People with Covid-19 are treated in a Belgian hospital

REUTERS

England has launched a second national lockdown after weeks of regional restrictions failed to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The UK government has not followed up on advice from scientific advisors in September to put in place a shorter lock-up period weeks earlier to halt the exponential growth of coronavirus cases.

This new lockdown is needed to stop the virus from spreading, but it and similar efforts across Europe could be too late to prevent the second wave of Covid-19 from being worse than the first.

“It’s pretty bleak,” says Paul …