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UK sees highest Saturday rise in new coronavirus cases in 4 months

A group of friends enjoy the Autumn sunshine at a bar in Brighton: PA
A group of friends enjoy the Autumn sunshine at a bar in Brighton: PA

The Government said that as of 9am on Saturday, there had been a further 3,497 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. Overall, 365,174 cases have been confirmed.

It comes as people have been warned against having a “party weekend” as a former chief scientific adviser said the UK is “on the edge of losing control” of coronavirus.

The Government dashboard also said a further nine people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday. This brings the UK total to 41,623.

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

The pubic have been urged to act in tune with the new guidelines (PA)
The pubic have been urged to act in tune with the new guidelines (PA)

The public has been urged to act “in tune” with Covid-19 guidelines before the “rule of six” restrictions come into force on Monday.

The call came as former chief scientific adviser and member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) Sir Mark Walport said the only way to stop the virus spreading is to reduce the number of people we all come into contact with, adding that there is an “extremely strong argument” that home working should continue.

Tough new Covid-19 lockdown measures were announced for parts of the UK on Friday as cases continued to rise and as the R number – the reproduction number of coronavirus transmission – climbed above one.

New measures banning people from mixing in homes and gardens will be imposed on Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell from Tuesday in response to a rocketing infection rate in the area.

The R number is continuing to rise (PA)
The R number is continuing to rise (PA)

Ahead of the “rule of six” coming into play, the chairman of the body representing rank and file police officers raised concerns about behaviour over the weekend.

John Apter, of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “There is a real risk some members of the public will take advantage of the current situation and treat this weekend as a party weekend ahead of the tighter restrictions being introduced on Monday.”

Police in Manchester – where a local lockdown has been in force since July 30 – said they broke up a house party of 30 people in the early hours of Saturday.

When asked whether the UK was still in control of the spread of the virus, Sir Mark Walport said: “I think one would have to say that we’re on the edge of losing control.”

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