Dramatic Leap in the UK Coronavirus cases From 7,000 reported on Friday, to just under 13,000 on Saturday to A.D. Less than 23,000 on Sunday It’s not as terrible as it sounds – though it’s not good news.What inflated the numbers for Sundays and Saturdays is a staggering 15,841 cases of sampling between September 25 and October 2.

In other words, there was a big difference between taking the swab and showing the result in the official government figures.The cause of delay that destroys confidence is there It was a malfunction of two of England’s “old” public health computer systems, Which means that the data was not transferred correctly. Or at least that is what a senior official told me.It looks like the bug has now been fixed.But the confusion and damage were sown.



For the avoidance of doubt, there were no triple the number of infections in just two days. If the results are attributable to the sample date, the trend is virtually unchanged from what it has been in the past two weeks, i.e. doubling the infections approximately every nine days.The disappointment is that until the missing injuries appeared, it seemed as if the rate of increase was falling off. This flatness has turned into a mirage.Also, if the trends are examined on a regional basis, the bad news is that the Northwest, Northeast and Yorkshire appear to be seeing deteriorating infection rates compared to the rest of the country – even though they are subject to more stringent behavioral restrictions and are already experiencing further spread of the virus.

A social distancing sign in downtown Leeds, West Yorkshire credit: Danny Lawson / PA

On a more subtle level, it’s also evident that the rate of increase is significantly faster in college towns, from Exeter to Newcastle.And it’s kind of good news, because – says a member of the government – the infection is still more prevalent among young people, who tend to be less sick than the elderly.But it poses a huge political dilemma for the Prime Minister and Minister of Health, i.e. should they completely ban university students from traveling more than a few hundred meters from their accommodation and rented rooms?The point is that the biggest risk now is that students are wasting the virus in the rest of the population – at which point the increase in infections will lead to an increase in severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths.