The number of cases in the United Kingdom has exceeded the 1 million mark. It has become the ninth country to achieve this grim milestone.

• According to the statistics provided by Johns Hopkins University, over 23,261 new cases were reported in the United Kingdom in the past 24 hours.

• A record 161,214 new cases were reported in the past week (between Oct 25–Oct 31) in the UK.

The first-ever case of COVID-19 in the UK was confirmed 275 days ago on January 31. Since then, the country has reported 1,038,054 cases, and 46,807 deaths. These catastrophic numbers depict how ineffectively the virus has been contained in the country.

The most alarming thing is that the situation is getting worse and worse every day. Since late September, the cases are continuously on the rise in the UK. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his administration have been harshly criticized for their inability to curtail the spread of the virus in the country.

Europe saw a huge first wave of the COVID-19 in the spring but then somehow managed to contain the virus in May-June courtesy of lockdown restrictions. The United Kingdom chose the herd immunity route initially but then changed its policy and implemented a draconian-style nationwide lockdown, much like the other European countries. This policy curtailed the number of new infections across Europe.

These European countries are now facing a serious second wave of viral disease. The situation is so serious that many of these nations are contemplating a potential second lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. The United Kingdom has already chosen to shut down the country as PM Johnson announced a four week nationwide lockdown a couple of days ago to thwart a "medical and moral disaster" for the NHS.

• Latest COVID-19 situation of the UK:

  Confirmed Cases: 1,038,054

  New Cases (Last 24h): 23,261

  Deaths: 46,807

  New Deaths (Last 24h): 162