Millions of Brits probably had Covid-19 with no symptoms & passed it on, according to UK’s top scientist

UP to 6.6 million Brits could have had the coronavirus (Covid-19) with no symptoms and passed it on, according to the UK’s top scientist Sir Patrick Vallance.

In a press briefing today, the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government estimated that as much as 10 per cent of the UK’s population could have already been infected with Covid-19. However, to get a clearer and exact idea of the scale of the outbreak in the UK and how to handle it best, coronavirus tests are key, he stated. “The importance of that test is working out the proportion of people who may have had the virus asymptotically,” he said.

Vallance also warned that the number of new infections would need to fall before death figures would also decline. “I’d expect the deaths to keep going up for about two weeks after the intensive care picture improves,” he stated. “So, we’re not there yet in terms of knowing exactly when that will be, but that’s the sort of time frame I’d expect.”

He reiterated the UK’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s message of the importance of continuing with the lockdown measures that are currently in place. “The measures that everybody has taken, the difficult things that we’ve all had to do, are making a difference, they’re making a big difference,” Vallance said. “We know that the social distancing is working and we know that people are doing what they’re supposed to do and we need to keep doing that.”

“The message is clear,” he added: “Social distancing is breaking transmission… it’s stopping the hospital admissions, it’s preventing more people going into intensive care and it will prevent deaths.”