Labour calls for Covid press conference as virus doubling every nine days

Labour has called on the Prime Minister to hold a coronavirus press conference today to update the nation after a new study exposed the severity of the second coronavirus wave in England this month.

A new study from Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI reveals that between October 16th and 25th, 128 people per 10,000 were infected with Covid in England – almost twice the 60 per 10,000 recorded on October 5th.

The new research also found that the national ‘R’ reproduction rate of the coronavirus in England has increased to 1.6, which means the virus is not only growing but doubling in cases every nine days.

Commenting on the Imperial College London findings and the need for a Covid press conference, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “This study reveals just how serious the situation we are now in is.

“The virus is growing nationwide. This will inevitably lead to more loss of life, more serious harm, immense pressure on the NHS and a slow, damaging drag on the economy.

“Boris Johnson should have used the school half-term to implement a time-limited ‘circuit breaker’ to push infections down, fix test and trace and save lives. People will be alarmed and worried and looking for reassurance from ministers.

“Businesses are fearful that a delay in taking decisive national action will create further, deeper uncertainty for the economy. Boris Johnson must hold a press conference later today to update the nation and outline what steps he will now take to get control of the virus and save lives.”

The new Imperial College London research conducted mass testing on the general population and found that the number of infections has increased across all age groups and regions of the country.

The new study suggests that across England 96,000 people are catching Covid each day. While only 24,701 new cases were officially reported on Thursday, the figures only account for those who get a positive test, not asymptomatic carriers.

Ashworth declared yesterday that the government has “put Christmas at risk” by failing to implement a national ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown over the October half-term as Labour recommended.

He told Times Radio: “I think because they’ve missed this window of opportunity over the half-term I’m worried that what we’ll see is deeper, more drastic lockdown action… which sadly probably does put Christmas at risk.”

“The government have got to do something quickly to save Christmas for everybody because we want people to have a family Christmas, don’t we? I think it would be awful if people don’t get that.”

Keir Starmer had called on the government to implement a short, sharp ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown over the October half-term to ensure that the country did not “sleep walk into a long and bleak winter”.

While Downing Street rejected the policy in favour of their tiered local lockdown framework, a similar two-week national lockdown is currently in place in Wales and set to end on November 9th.

The new study follows the release of the latest Test and Trace figures last week, which revealed that the scheme had hit record lows, with just 59.6% of contacts being reached by tracers and only 7.4% of results being delivered in 24 hours.