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UK PM Johnson: We cannot delude ourselves that pandemic is over

Britain's PM Johnson and Home Secretary Patel visit police in Northallerton

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said COVID-19 was now under some measure of control in the UK, but a resurgence of the coronavirus in some European countries made clear that the pandemic was not over.

"This country has had a massive success now in reducing the numbers of those tragic deaths, and we've got it at the moment under some measure of control," he said on Thursday.

"But I have to tell you that we are looking at a resurgence of the virus in some other European countries and you can see what's been happening in the United States, and so it is absolutely vital as a country that we continue to keep our focus and our discipline, and that we don't delude ourselves that somehow we are out of the woods or that that is all over because it isn't all over."

He said the virus was "bubbling up a little bit" in 10 to 30 places within the UK, and that it was vital Britons stuck to social distancing rules, washed their hands, and got tested if they had any symptoms.

(Reporting by William James and Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young and Estelle Shirbon)