[ad_1]
There have been another 12,872 laboratory-confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the UK, according to government figures.
The figure, which was recorded at 9 a.m. on Saturday, brings the total number of confirmed cases to 480,017, but a technical glitch may mean that the actual daily figure is somewhat lower.
The government said that due to a technical problem, there was a delay in the publication of a number of cases in England, so the total reported in the coming days will include some additional cases from the period between 24 September and 1 October.
The glitch has now been fixed, they added, but it’s unclear how many of Saturday’s cases were from this earlier period.
Sky economics editor Ed Conway, who has analyzed coronavirus statistics during the pandemic, said that uncertainty about the number of cases had left him “quite stunned.”
On Twitter he wrote: “… although (the technical problem) is ‘solved’, it is not clear how much of the deficit remains to be reported: hundreds? Thousands?”
Dr Duncan Robertson, an academic at Loughborough University and an expert on policy modeling and analysis, told Sky News: “It is important to understand the reason for the delay. If it is a reporting delay, it is bad enough. but there have been delays in including these cases in the NHS testing and tracing database, which may have serious implications for the spread of the disease
“We also need to know if there are matches in the source of these cases. We have seen that private and university tests have been done, and it is not yet clear how these results (both positive and negative) are being directed towards the DHSC (Department of Health) system. and Social Assistance) “.
The 12,872 figure is the highest on record in the UK, but it should also be remembered that community testing was extremely limited during the worst of the first wave in April.
There were 49 deaths among people who tested positive for the virus in the previous 28 days.
The total number of UK deaths from the virus stands at 42,317, although UK statistical agencies say nearly 57,900 deaths have been recorded where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
It comes a day after it was revealed that the UK’s coronavirus breeding number (R) could now be as high as 1.6, up from 1.2 to 1.5 last week.
In England, the R number is highest in London and the Northeast and Yorkshire, with both regions with figures between 1.2 and 1.6.
The reproduction rate indicates the average number of people that each person has coronavirus will infect – an R number between 1.3 and 1.6 means on average every 10 people with COVID-19 it will infect between 13 and 16 more people.
Also in recent days, a report from the Office for National Statistics suggested that the recent spike in cases in England was “stabilizing”.
