The UK government still hopes that a second nationwide lockdown can be avoided.

So said Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, after researchers estimated that nearly 100,000 people are infected with the virus in England every day.

Jenrick said the government is trying to hold on to local lockdowns for now, which have now been instituted in multiple places in England.

“It is the clear policy of the government to do everything possible to avoid a complete nationwide lockdown,” the minister stressed at Sky News.

Governments across Europe are facing a rapidly increasing number of corona infections. Researchers at Imperial College in London estimate that around 96,000 infections occur in England every day.

France and Germany have already decided to reintroduce lockdown measures nationwide, but the UK government is reluctant to follow suit. Jenrick said local measures could prevent more significant economic damage.

The national government is engaged in action in England, as other parts of the country have extensive powers of public health themselves. For example, Wales decided to introduce a short lockdown.