UK records more than 17,500 infections as scientist calls for lockdown

The Department for Health has announced the UK has recorded a vast rise in coronavirus cases with 17,540 cases in one day.

This is a rise of 3,378 cases from Wednesday which recorded 14,162 infections, with a further 77 deaths.

The number of people who are on ventilators in hospital has also risen which now stands at 442, with 609 average hospitalisations over a rolling seven-day average.

Before England hits November, it is feared that the number of patients in hospital will reach levels seen in April’s peak which will happen before the “end of this month” in the North West.

Just in the North West it is expected that 3,000 people will be in hospital alone, and scientists and now Dr’s now fear a second lockdown will make no difference in soaring infection rates.

A senior government scientific advisor has warned on Thursday that England needs an immediate “circuit breaker” lockdown, which will avoid many deaths and hospital admissions.

Professor John Edmunds who is a member of SAGE which advises the Cabinet warned, “I would rather we did it right now, and we took the pain right now.”

It is vital that the circuit breaker is required as it will “stop the epidemic from getting out of control in the next few weeks or months and overwhelming the health service.

“We are not that far away from that. I hate to be gloomy, but in the North of England now we are not that far away from the health service being stretched.”

He said that it is “unquestionably” that the government’s delay to the first national lockdown led to many deaths that could have been averted.

He warned the government, “That is unquestionably the primary reason why we had so many deaths, unfortunately.

“I think we need to take action rapidly to avoid making the same mistake.

“I really want the government to act decisively now, rather than waiting and being bounced into acting sometime later.”