The UK recorded close to 3,000 coronavirus infections for the second day running on Monday as health secretary Matt Hancock warned “more affluent” young people were behind the increase and risked spreading the disease to older relatives.
Official data showed 2,948 people had tested positive in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of recorded infections to 350,100. The one-day total was only slightly down on 2,988 cases reported the day before — itself the highest total since May.
The increase in cases will raise concerns that the UK is on the brink of a resurgence of the virus, following similar patterns of infection in other European countries such as Spain and France.