Positive coronavirus tests at two-month high after factory outbreak

POSITIVE coronavirus tests in the UK have hit a two-month high, following an outbreak at a sandwich factory in Northampton.

The daily number published yesterday for positive tests – 1,441 lab-confirmed cases – is the highest since June 14.

Figures show 104 new cases in Northampton were recorded on Monday and another 104 on Tuesday, pushing the town to the top of the list of highest weekly rates in England.

Northampton’s rate shot up to 115.8 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to August 11 – from 34.7 in the previous seven days to August 4.

On Thursday Northamptonshire council said 292 people had tested positive for Covid-19 after an outbreak at Greencore sandwich factory.

Yesterday Government scientists cautioned that transmission rates may be increasing.

The Government Office for Science and the Scientific Advisory Group for

Emergencies (Sage), said the reproduction number, referred to as R, for the UK as a whole remains unchanged at between 0.8 to 1.

The growth rate – reflecting how quickly the number of infections is changing day by day – has changed slightly.

The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M), a subgroup of Sage, said: “We are starting to see early indications that these values may be increasing.

“This is not yet reflected in these estimates because the data used to calculate R and growth rate reflect the situation from a few weeks ago.”

Earlier the Government announced it had reached agreements which it said will give British citizens early access to 90 million doses of two more potential Covid-19 vaccines.

The vaccines are being developed by US biotech company Novavax and pharmaceutical business Janssen,

which is headquartered in Belgium and owned by Johnson & Johnson.

Under the in-principle agreements, the UK has secured 60 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, with it supporting a Phase 3 clinical trial with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Some 30 million doses have been secured from Janssen and ministers have agreed in principle to co-fund a global clinical study of its vaccine.

The new agreements, on top of earlier deals, mean the UK now has access to six different Covid-19 vaccine candidates in development, across four different types, representing some 340 million doses.

Despite the scale of the Government’s potential stockpile, Kate Bingham, who chairs the Government’s Vaccines Taskforce, warned it was still not known if any of the vaccines would be effective but said she was “reasonably confident” of one being found that will reduce the severity of virus symptoms and reduce deaths.