This was likely to reflect schools reopening during that week, Public Health England (PHE's) report published today said. Boris Johnson acknowledged there was likely to be a lift in cases ahead of the reopening of schools from March 8. Cases numbers were expected to lift as pupils returned to mixing schools after months learning remotely. The steadying out of cases after weeks of consistently decreasingly figures may be due to schools returning, presenting the opportunity for localised outbreaks. For example, Pontprennau Primary School in Cardiff had 21 positive cases of Covid-19 confirmed in the last seven days.

Source: Daily Mirror March 18, 2021 14:29 UTC