UK coronavirus cases rising - why are deaths still low?

The UK may be in the midst of a second coronavirus wave, with the number of confirmed daily cases exceeding the so-called peak of the first outbreak.

A further 5,693 people tested positive for the infection on 27 September, a potential underestimate due to the “weekend effect”, when reporting is artificially low.

Nevertheless, this is an increase on the 5,130 incidences confirmed on 8 April, the same day the government reported a record 1,073 people died with the infection.

While coronavirus cases are accelerating throughout much of the UK, deaths remain relatively low, with figures released on 27 September recording 17 people dying within 28 days of a positive test.

Experts have explained many thousands of cases were missed during the height of the outbreak due to a lack of testing.

One said as many as 200,000 new incidences may have been arising every day, with officials being “lucky” to catch just one in 20 of those.