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THere there is “no question” that the UK is experiencing a second wave of coronavirus cases, the UK national statistician said.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: “I think there is no doubt that we are in a second wave. We are seeing infections increasing very rapidly.”
He said that in England about one in 130 people have the virus, and that estimates for Scotland and Wales are “a little lower” and in Northern Ireland “a little higher.”
When asked if recent data suggesting a slowdown in case growth meant that the country would leave a second wave earlier than expected, he said: “I would very much like to hope so. However, I am extremely nervous about taking only the initial data and push things forward and say ‘okay’.
“Because let’s be clear, we could see the rate of increase slow down a bit as we get more data over the next few weeks, but we’re still at a relatively high level. What we really need to do is bring that level down.
“Even if we got to R in the north at around one, I’d still have infections at a high rate.
“I really think it’s too early to say about slowing down.”
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