The apparent fall in Covid-19 case numbers may be temporary ahead of a return to 'exponential growth', experts have warned. By 9am on Thursday, there had been a further 39,906 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK - down from 44,104 at the same time on Wednesday.
Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the Norwich School of Medicine, University of East Anglia, said Thursday was the first time reported case numbers had been lower than the same day the previous week since early May.
But he said it is too early to tell what affect the relaxation of restrictions on July 19 is going to have. Prof Hunter said of Thursday's figures: "They represent a 18 per cent drop.