Britain is likely to have six waves of coronavirus within a year with the first wave of infection killing over 40,000 people, according to a Government adviser.
The stark warning means the UK is on target to have the highest coronavirus death rate in Europe. Parliament's Health and Social Care Committee was told by leading physician Professor Anthony Costello that the country must face up to the "harsh reality" that it was "too slow" to implement measures to contain the virus.
Prof Costello, of University College London's Institute for Global Health, told a committee of MPs the news in a briefing today that the only way out of the crisis would be the development of a vaccine.