Their virus numbers soar….
Boris Johnson seems to be following in the path of his buddy Donald Trump…
The official data released Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that gross domestic product (GDP) fell 20.4 percent in the second quarter — April, May and June — compared to the first quarter. The downturn reflected losses across all sectors, after the country went into a tight lockdown in the third week of March.
“The recession brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has led to the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record,” said Jonathan Athow, ONS deputy national statistician.
A recession is called when two consecutive quarters show contraction in gross domestic product. Britain’s first quarter in January, February and March was down 2.2 percent. This is Britain’s first recession in 11 years, since the global downturn in 2009.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, who serves as Britain’s finance minister, said the government was “grappling with something that is unprecedented.”
He told reporters: “A few months ago, I said that hard times were coming. Today’s figures show that hard times are here.”….