There is NO second wave of coronavirus – we’re just testing more, says Oxford expert
A SECOND wave of the coronavirus won't hit the UK and a rise in cases is due to a "comprehensive" track and trace system, experts claim.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics this week revealed that the odds of catching Covid-19 in England are about 44 in a million a day and scientists have said the country can get back to normal.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
Professor Carl Heneghan, director for the Centre of Evidence-Based Medicine said it is safe for most aspects of normal life to resume in a careful manner.
He said: "There is currently no second wave. What we are seeing is a sharp rise in the number of healthy people who are carrying the virus, but exhibiting no symptoms.
"Almost all of them are young. They are being spotted because – finally – a comprehensive system of national test and trace is in place."
Prof Heneghan said the government now needs to send out a clear message that the risk of catching the coronavirus is low.
Writing in , he highlighted that both the UK and Italy have a rising number of cases, "but a stable and very low number of deaths".
The Oxford professor said that this may be down to the fact that we have now become more equipped to deal with the virus as experts continue to learn more about the bug.
Prof Heneghan said that drastic measures such as nationwide lockdowns shouldn't be needed again.
He highlighted that during this period it was the younger population who remained free of the infection.
It ultimately spread, he says, in care homes and hospitals like "wild fire".
He added: 'The evidence is becoming clearer. Young people provide no protection to older members of society by staying away from school, university and work.
"But they wreak terrible long-term damage in other ways by maintaining their social isolation."
His comments on schools come as millions of kids headed back to the classroom yesterday after months away from educational settings.
Many Brits also returned to the office yesterday and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hailed the huge number of Brits who have returned to their normal lives following restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But despite comments from experts such as Prof Heneghan, the Prime Minister warned there would be "more wretched Covid to come".
Speaking at a socially distanced meeting yesterday he said: “Of course, we know that there is still going to be more of this disease, this wretched Covid, still to come.
“We know there will be more outbreaks — and we are absolutely confident that we are going to be able to deal with those outbreaks.”
Figures from the ONS suggest that there are between 1,200 and 4,200 new infections a day in England.
And many of those infected will not even know they have it.
Only about one person in 100 dies after being infected and another one in 100 suffer long-term effects.
There is just a one in two million chance of dying from Covid-19 in England.
Speaking on This Morning yesterday Prof Heneghan added that the country needs to keep social distancing and said we still need to be vigilant.
He said on Saturday there was one death reported across the whole of the UK, one death in 67 million people.
"We should be reassured right now that it's safe, the environment is safe to go back to schools, to go back to work
"We do need to stay vigilant as we go into the winter because we will see a rise in respiratory infections across the board."
He added that there are two or three reasons why the cases are down.
Most read in Health News
"The social distancing, the hand washing, has a significant effect on respiratory infections, it about halves the number across the board and it's not just for Covid, it's been other respiratory pathogens that we have seen during this time of year are much lower, so that's one issue.
"Second is a seasonal effect, as we go through summer, as we are outside there is a natural distancing that occurs and the viral load is less.
"What we have to do is be vigilant, because this virus in particular likes it when it's cold, when the humidity comes down and that tends to be when we come into winter."
READ MORE SUN STORIES
He added that if we remain vigilant then cases will remain low.
"Between now and December respiratory pathogens will increase about three to four fold, but if we are vigilant we can keep those numbers down and that's the most important aspect here, a very clear simple message - keep the social distancing going, keep the hand washing going and be vigilant."