⁍ Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce new measures to tackle a growing coronavirus crisis on Monday.

---

⁍ Johnson is reluctant to repeat a national lockdown that would further hurt a struggling economy.

---

⁍ The government is trying to contain a surge in cases, as well as growing anger, in parts of northern and central England.

---

– The death toll in Britain from an outbreak of coronavirus has risen to 18, the country’s deputy chief medical officer says, calling it a “tipping point” and urging the government to act now, Reuters reports. The disease has also spread to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, and is believed to have killed at least two people in the US. More than 200 cases have been reported in the UK, with the vast majority of them in the northern and central parts of the country. Health officials are now urging people to avoid nonessential travel to the affected areas, the Guardian reports. They’re also urging those who have recently traveled there to avoid nonessential travel if they have symptoms of the disease. The government is expected to announce new measures today to tackle the outbreak, Reuters reports. It’s also working more closely with local officials in the affected areas. “We want the strongest possible working relationship now between central government and local government,’ says a government official, “So it’s right that we take action in those communities and design the measures in conjunction with people who know those places best.” Meanwhile, angry local leaders are complaining that they’ve been left out of decision-making in the government’s favor. “We’ve certainly not agreed with them,” says the leader of Manchester City Council. “I think there is probably a large gulf at the moment between us and the government.”