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Nearly 3,000 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the UK at the highest daily figure since May, and UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted the increase is “concerning”.
Government figures show there have been another 2,988 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK as of 9am on Sunday.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 347,152.
Sunday’s figure is the highest since May 22, when 3,287 cases were recorded, and it is also the first 24-hour period that cases exceeded 2,000 since the end of May.
The tally was an increase in Saturday’s numbers of 1,813 new cases.
Younger people
Scotland recorded 208 new cases of coronavirus, the largest daily increase in positive tests in more than 17 weeks.
The last time more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Scotland was on May 8, when there were 225 new cases of infection.
Mr Hancock described the UK figures as “worrying”.
He told Sky News: “The cases are predominantly among younger people, but we have seen in other countries around the world and in Europe this type of increase in cases among younger people, leading to an increase in the general population.
“It is very important that people do not allow this disease to infect their grandparents and give them the kind of problems that we saw at the beginning of the year.”
UK shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “The current surge in coronavirus cases is deeply concerning and a stark reminder that there is no room for complacency in the fight against the spread of the virus.
“This increase, combined with the ongoing testing fiasco, in which sick people are told to drive miles for testing, and the poor performance of the contact tracing system, needs an explanation from ministers.
“Matt Hancock is due to come to the House of Commons tomorrow to establish what is being done to get the evidence back on track and reduce the number of cases.”
Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England, said that most of the new cases are people being tested in the community and the situation is being monitored.
She said: ‘There were large increases in Covid-19 cases across England and while no area accounts for the change overnight, Birmingham had the largest increase in cases overnight and most of the new cases occurred in the north of England.
“This is a reminder of the ongoing risk from this virus. People should continue to follow the rules of social distancing, wash their hands regularly and cover their faces in closed spaces.
Despite the sharp increase in cases, the number of deaths has not increased in kind.
On Sunday, the government said 41,551 people had died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 through Sunday, an increase of two from the previous day.
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, expressed particular concern about the increase, as numbers tend to be lower on Sundays.
Sadly, it appears that we are entering a period of exponential growth for the UK epidemic and if so we can expect further increases in the coming weeks.
He said: “Part of that increase may be due to delayed testing catch-up in recent days due to widely reported difficulties the UK testing service has faced in dealing with the amount of testing requested.
“However, this represents a marked increase in the seven-day moving average of 1,812 cases per day compared to 1,244 a week ago and 1,040 a week earlier.
Fortunately, the daily number of deaths due to Covid-19 remains very low, with a seven-day moving average of only seven deaths per day.
“However, with the new approach to recording deaths, it is difficult to be sure that there are timely statistics.
“Sadly, it appears that we are entering a period of exponential growth for the UK epidemic and if so we can expect further increases in the coming weeks.”
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