Coronavirus: UK’s daily death figure jumps form three to 30

Coronavirus deaths in the UK have jumped from three on Monday to 30 on Tuesday in the latest daily figures.

The overall death toll is now 41,584.

The number of deaths published on Monday are usually lower due to weekend reporting, but for comparison 10 deaths were reported on Friday and 13 on Thursday.

A week ago, on 1 September, just three deaths were reported.

Twenty-seven of Tuesday’s deaths were in England and three in Scotland. The government figures record people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

There were 2,420 new cases recorded on Tuesday, lower than Sunday and Monday when nearly 3,000 were recorded each day.

It comes as leading health experts warned the UK faces a “bumpy ride over the next few months” and said a second wave “is coming”.

England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, said the rise in coronavirus cases had come because people had “relaxed too much”.

He added the rise is “much more marked” in the 17 to 21 age group, but noted there is a “more general and creeping geographic trend” across the UK.

The maximum number of people who can legally gather indoors in England is also set to be cut as the government seeks to combat the spike in cases, Sky News understands.

A government source said the figure would be reduced from 30 – but the new number is still being ironed out.

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Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation’s special envoy for the global COVID-19 response, said “the virus is going to come back” as “life gets going again”.

Asked by Sky News if the country can expect a second wave, he replied: “It’s coming.

“I don’t like it calling it a second wave, I just say there are going to be more spikes and indeed some surges of cases because the virus hasn’t changed.

“It’s the same virus that came and caused so much trouble earlier this year.

“It’s just been lurking, we’ve been very good at holding it back through restricting movement and lockdowns.”

He continued: “Now as life gets going again, younger people are going to university, also there’s some movement around with holidays and of course work – then I’m afraid it does mean the virus is going to come back.”

The UK’s weekly rate of new cases has risen above 20 per 100,000 people – the rate at which it considers imposing quarantine measures on people arriving from abroad.

In the seven days to 7 September, there were 21.3 cases per 100,000, and a total of 14,227.

There were 13.9 per 100,000 in the seven days to 31 August, and a total of 9,259.

Monday saw 2,948 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK, following the 2,988 reported on Sunday, which was the largest daily figure since May.

Professor Van-Tam said the coronavirus figures were of “great concern”, adding: “This is a virus we’re going to have to live with – and if we’re not careful, if we don’t take this incredibly seriously from this point on, we’re going to have a bumpy ride over the next few months.”

Asked what is behind the rise in cases, he replied: “People have relaxed too much.”

He added: “Now is the time for us to re-engage and realise that this is a continuing threat to us.”

The deputy chief medical officer for England issued the warning as Caerphilly in South Wales prepared to be placed under local lockdown and stricter measures were extended in Scotland.

Professor Van-Tam has urged politicians To think how to manage the crisis, not in the short term, but through “the next six months and how we get through this until the spring”.

He said it was “clear” that the level of compliance with restrictions was “very variable indeed”.

Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, posted on Twitter on Tuesday: “Jonathan Van Tam lays the situation out clearly.

“We have through the extraordinary efforts of the whole population got COVID rates right down.

“They are now rising again especially in those aged 17 to 29. If we stop social distancing COVID comes back. We all need to protect others.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the “important advice”, having earlier described the recent increase in cases as “concerning”, as he tried to remind young people of the dangers of the situation.

He told BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat: “Don’t kill your gran by catching coronavirus and then passing it on.”

Professor Andrew Hayward, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), has said the latest increase in coronavirus cases is “very worrying”.

Professor Hayward said scientists are monitoring the data closely for signs of wider community transmission of the disease.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Generally it is local outbreaks, but there is also very worrying increases in cases, particularly over the last few days.

“That is what we are really keeping a close eye on – the extent to which it moves away from these local outbreaks to broader community transmission.”

Professor John Edmunds, who is also a member of SAGE, warned that cases were “increasing exponentially”.

He said the UK has entered “a risky period” with the average number of people an infected individual spreads the virus to, known as the R number, potentially above the crucial figure of one.

He told ITV News: “I didn’t want us to relax measures so much that we couldn’t open the schools safely without it tipping the reproduction number significantly above one. And we are already above one and we’ve opened schools.”

It comes after suspected cases of COVID-19 recorded by GPs at the height of the pandemic were three times higher than officially confirmed infections, according to new research.

The study suggests that coronavirus was more prevalent among the population than previously thought.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: UK’s daily death figure jumps form three to 30