Now 4,200 people are catching Covid-19 each day in England: Cases have doubled in a fortnight

Coronavirus cases have risen again in England, government statisticians today admitted as they claimed 4,200 people are now catching the life-threatening infection each day.

The estimate by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) – based on swab tests taken of thousands of people – is the highest in seven weeks and more than double the 1,700 recorded a fortnight ago.

One in 1,500 people currently have the coronavirus – 0.07 per cent of the population. The figure does not include care homes and hospitals.

The government-run body today said there is now enough evidence to show a slight increase in cases, after weeks of warning there was not enough proof to show infections were on the up.

It comes amid growing fears of a second Covid-19 wave in Britain, with Boris Johnson understood to be concerned about a spike in cases both in Europe and in the UK.

Matt Hancock last night introduced tough new lockdown restrictions on 4.5million people in Greater Manchester and parts of Lancashire and West Yorkshire to control spiralling cases, banning them from mixing with any other households indoors. 

Top scientists insist Britain must learn to live with the virus and control flare-ups through measures No 10 already has in its locker. Businesses fear another blanket lockdown – which the Prime Minister admitted he doesn’t want to use – would cause even more catastrophic damage to an economy already in tatters.

ONS data is considered to be some of the most accurate available. It estimates how many people have the coronavirus infection in the community, and not hospitals and care homes.

The figures are far higher than those reported by the Department of Health every day, as this data only reports Covid-19 cases confirmed with a lab-read test.

ONS collect data from swab tests sent regularly to people’s homes to test whether they are infected with the virus at the time. The people are chosen to be representative of the UK population. 

The organisation follows trends over a six-week period. This week’s update was based on the results of 116,026 swab tests collected over six weeks. During these weeks, 59 individuals from 58 households tested positive.  

Only very small numbers of people test positive in any given period, which creates a wide range of possible estimates for the ONS to choose from about how many people in the community have the virus. 

During the most recent week (July 19 to July 26), ONS estimates that around 4,200 people became newly infected with Covid-19 per day. It could be as low as 2,200 or as high as 8,100 based on their calculations.  

The possible range in this week’s estimate is between 23,700 to 53,200 – up from the 18,500 to 39,900 reported last week, and the 15,000 and 34,000 a fortnight ago. This does not include patients in hospitals or care home residents, who cannot be tested at home.  

‘There is now evidence to suggest a slight increase in the number of people in England testing positive on a nose and throat swab in recent weeks,’ the report today said.

Fears the coronavirus crisis is growing have been bubbling for several days, resulting in ministers admitting there were concerned about a second wave.

Yesterday, health chiefs reported a further 846 people across the UK had tested positive for the life-threatening virus, which was up from the 763 recorded on Wednesday.

The figures, which bring the government total number of UK coronavirus cases to 302,301, reveal that daily infections have risen by 12 per cent in a week with the rolling average hitting a four-week high.