Coronavirus cases in the UK are rising exponentially and chief medical officers are urging the Government to raise the covid alert level from level 3 to 4. During a press conference on Monday, England’s chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance said there could be 50,000 new cases of coronavirus daily by mid-October if no further action is taken.
On Monday, September 21, 4,638 cases were reported in the UK.
Speaking at Downing Street, Prof Vallance said: “At the moment we think the epidemic is doubling roughly every seven days.
“If, and that’s quite a big if, but if that continues unabated, and this grows, doubling every seven days… if that continued you would end up with something like 50,000 cases in the middle of October per day.
“Fifty-thousand cases per day would be expected to lead a month later, so the middle of November say, to 200-plus deaths per day.
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“The challenge, therefore, is to make sure the doubling time does not stay at seven days.
“That requires speed, it requires action and it requires enough in order to be able to bring that down.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to make a statement in the House of Commons tomorrow, Tuesday, September 22.
Mr Johnson will chair a COBRA (Cabinet Office Briefing Room A) meeting ahead of the announcement.
Who sets the level?
The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) has the task of recommending what the alert level should be.
The JBC’s recommendations are then reviewed and agreed by the chief medical officers of the four UK nations.
On Monday, the JBC recommended the covid alert level for the UK be increased to level 4.
This means transmission of coronavirus is “high or rising exponentially”.
