UK coronavirus cases rise by more than 3,000 for third day in a row

Three-day tally rises above 10,000

A social distancing public notice on a street in Birmingham (EPA)

The UK has recorded more than 3,000 new Covid-19 cases for the third consecutive day for the first time since May.

There were 3,330 confirmed new cases of coronavirus, according to government data published on Sunday, compared with 3,497 a day earlier.

The overall tally has now risen to 368,504 infections.

A further five new deaths were also reported, bringing the national total to 41,628 – the highest in Europe.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have been 57,400 deaths registered in the country where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Although daily deaths remain low, government advisors and experts have warned that soaring cases could lead to a rise in people being hospitalised in the coming weeks and more lives lost.

Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London who advises the government on the threat posed by new and emerging respiratory viruses, said a “trickle” of cases can turn into a “cascade”.

He also warned that the country faces going back into “hard lockdown” if people do not abide by the “rule of six” restrictions, which ban both indoor and outdoor gatherings of six or more people, being introduced on Monday in an attempt to curb the increasing rise in infections.

A ramp-up in testing has accounted for some of the increase, but the UK has also seen the virus spread in recent weeks.

Daily cases are more than double those reported two weeks ago, a change that has stoked concerns of a second wave of the virus.

And infections are now believed by Imperial researchers to be doubling every week, with their latest data suggesting the R rate had risen to 1.7.

It comes as France - whose outbreak is thought to be several weeks ahead of ours and which UK scientists have held up as an example not to follow - recorded more than 10,000 new infections in a single day, it’s largest total since the pandemic began.

Additional reporting by PA