⁍ Boris Johnson orders bars and restaurants to close early to tackle fast-spreading second wave of COVID-19.

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⁍ UK already has biggest official COVID-19 death toll in Europe – 41,788 – while it is borrowing record amounts to pump emergency money through the damaged economy.

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– As Britain grapples with its second wave of coronavirus, which has now killed 41,788 people in Europe, the country’s prime minister is telling people to stay home, work from home, or go to the pub. Pubs and restaurants have been told to close at 10pm on Thursday, Reuters reports. “I am sorry this will hurt many businesses just getting back on their feet,” Boris Johnson said. “We reserve the right to deploy greater firepower, with significantly greater restrictions,” he added. Schools and universities are to stay open, and the military could be called in to help free up the police, Johnson said. Under new rules, people who don’t wear masks in the right place face fines of up to $13,000, the BBC reports. “There is an important difference between our country and many other countries around the world and that is our country is a freedom-loving country,” Johnson said. “It is very difficult to ask the British population uniformly to obey guidelines in the way that is necessary.”