The coronavirus that apparently originated last December in a Wuhan seafood market is continuing its killing spree in all nooks of the globe, and as per the latest statistics, the pandemic has killed more than 1,98,530 people worldwide. Amidst the havoc caused by the virus, a top expert has revealed that the United Kingdom has passed the peak of the pandemic.
UK lockdown continues
Christian Yates, senior lecturer in mathematical biology at the University of Bath, revealed that recent NHS data suggests that the country has most likely passed the peak phase of the outbreak.
Yates' comments come at a time when the UK government has decided to extend the nationwide lockdown until May 8.
"While most British people support the lockdown, they will still be keen to know when the epidemic has reached its peak. Well, they don't need to wait any longer – the answer is in. Data suggests that the UK is most likely over the peak. Data released by NHS England, in which deaths are aggregated by the date of death rather than the date of reporting, shows a clear decline in recent days. While the figures are subject to constant revision, the numbers are starting to give us a coherent picture of the shape of the epidemic," wrote Yates in a recent article in The Conversation.
Coronavirus peak happened earlier in the UK
Yates also suggested the actual peak of the COVID-19 outbreak might have happened much earlier than previously thought. Yates says the increase in testing capacity in the second week of April has helped the country to find more coronavirus infected patients.
"In the UK, we have seen roughly constant new case numbers since cases topped out at 8,719 on April 12. But it's important to note that the UK increased its testing capacity during this period. Constant levels of reported cases despite increased testing is a likely sign that the true number of cases in the community is coming down," added Yates.
As per the latest updates, there are more than 1,43,000 coronavirus patients in the United Kingdom, and the death toll has already crossed 19,500.
