Sage minutes show warning that earlier intervention would reduce need for more stringent and longer-lasting measures
Ministers need to act early to counteract rising Covid infections, the government’s scientific advisers have said while suggesting that failure to do so could mean harsher interventions will be required this winter.
On Thursday daily new Covid cases in the UK exceeded 52,000, the highest since July. Figures from the Office for National Statistics released on Friday show that about one in 55 people in England had Covid-19 in the week ending 16 October, a level last seen in mid-January, and infection levels had increased from the week before in all age groups except 25- to 34-year-olds, where the trend was unclear.
