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Coronavirus infections have increased in the UK in recent weeks, according to new estimates.
The government’s latest R number is between 1 and 1.2, which means the epidemic is on the rise.
And a study of thousands of people in England found cases doubled every seven to eight days with significant growth in the North and youth.
New laws are being introduced from Monday on how many people can socialize inside and outside the home.
The ‘Six of Rule’ will ban the indoors of more than six people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It has also been announced that Birmingham will be the latest area to bring new sanctions after a spike in cases.
But three different large studies have indicated a widespread resurgence of coronavirus in the population.
And the R (reproductive) number – which describes how many other people each infected pass on the virus – has also increased.
If it is more than one, as of now, the number of infected is increasing.
But at the peak of the epidemic in April, the virus is still at a low level in the UK.
‘A wake-up call for the nation’
In the UK, the coronavirus is entering a new phase of the epidemic.
After the downdown, we decide how to respond to the declining cases. But now the R number has gone above the critical level of 1 for the first time since March and is backed by data rims showing that cases are rising again.
This isn’t just contained in hotspots like Bolton – a government adviser told me the increase is widespread across the country.
He said today was a “wake-up call” for the nation. There are already indications that the number of hospital admissions is on the rise.
But this is not a repeat of the build-up for the lockdown. The case is at a very low level and is growing more slowly.
Prior to the lock-down, R number was around three and cases doubled every three to four days. That’s about half that now.
Coronavirus will be a big challenge unless we have a vaccine.
So like the potentially difficult winter we defined the question is how to keep a balance in preventing the viruses associated with our lives.
A React study of more than 150,000 volunteers in England found one of three new sources of data at the community level, an “accelerating transmission” in late August and early September.
He says the rate of infection is rising in England, but especially in the North East, North West and Yorkshire.
And there has been an increase in positive cases in all age groups up to the age of 65, with the highest growth rate being between 18-24 years.
Professor Paul Elliott, chairman of the study at Imperial College College London, said the data clearly showed a “trend of coronavirus infection” in which cases were growing rapidly in England and “no longer concentrated in key workers”.
He said there was evidence of an “epidemic in the community” that was not the result of testing more people.
The second set of data from the National Face for National Statistics (ONS) states that there was no increase in cases in Wales during the first week of September. An estimated 1,200 people a week have coronavirus between August 30 and September 5.
But in England, the equivalent estimate was 39,700 – 11,000 in the previous week.
The ONS relies on thousands of swab tests conducted in homes, depending on whether people have symptoms.
Catherine Kent, from the ONS Infection Survey, said there has been an increase in covid-19 infections in England in recent weeks, with the rate of infection increasing among people aged 17-34.
Nicola Sturgeon has warned that the average number of cases reported in Scotland is “more than tremors every three weeks”, raising concerns, including in Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
And the third set, the Covid symptom study app, which looks at the health of around four million people in the UK, also indicates an increase in new cases since the end of August – the first since mid-June. Significant increase in numbers.
