As the lockdown has been eased, people have flocked to scenic spotsThe coronavirus infection rate has passed the threshold at which case numbers begin to grow in two regions of the UK as the lockdown eases across the country, according to official modelling. The reproduction, or R number — which represents how many people each infected person passes the virus on to, on average — is above one in the North West and South West of England, with experts warning that increases could halt the decline in Britain’s coronavirus death rate by mid-June. The official Covid-19 death toll has broken 40,000 after a daily rise of 357. “The findings are the opposite of reassuring,” said Professor Sheila Bird, the former programme leader of MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge, who was not involved in this work.

Source: The Times June 05, 2020 16:18 UTC