Chorus of calls to scrap Covid limits on choirs

Chorus of calls to scrap Covid limits on choirs
Chorus of calls to scrap Covid limits on choirs

Q: Is the rise in Covid cases slowing down?

A: It appears so. While the number of Covid cases is still going up – last week the UK recorded more than 10,000 cases in one day for the first time since February – the rate at which the virus is growing has slowed.

Cases had recently appeared to be doubling every ten days. Now they are doubling roughly every 14 days.

However, scientists say the rate could easily speed up again, particularly if a region sees a spike – much as the North West did in May.

But if the rate continues to slow, it will increase the likelihood that all restrictions will end as planned, on July 19.

On Thursday, Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist at King’s College London, said: ‘The numbers this week seem to be slowing down, which is good news. Worrying areas with a high number of cases, like Scotland and the North West, are starting to level off.

‘I’m predicting, based on past experience, that although we may not have reached the peak quite yet, within two weeks we will see cases beginning to drop again.’

Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said ‘things were looking hopeful’, after Office for National Statistics data published on Friday confirmed the rate of infection was slowing. He said: ‘If the numbers were continuing to jump up sharply I’d be worried, but right now the data suggests things are starting to move in the right direction.

‘It’s hard to say for certain, but I think in the next two to three weeks we could see cases begin to recede. I think by July 17, it will be safe to remove all restrictions, particularly given the number of people we will have vaccinated by then.’

Q: What’s going on in hospitals?

A: The number of people in hospital due to Covid-19 is continuing to rise.

On Tuesday, more than 200 were admitted with Covid symptoms, the most in a single day since April.

There are now more than 1,200 Britons in hospital with Covid, about 100 more than the previous week. Over the course of last week, there were roughly ten deaths

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