professor sir mark walport, a member of the government's sage advisory committee, said people neededmit their socialising, to ensure children can remain at school and students at university. it comes as the latest government data shows the uk recorded 3,497 new confirmed cases of covid—19. this report from our health correspondent, lauren moss. it's the final weekend before new restrictions are introduced across the uk. from monday, the rule of six will limit the number of people that we can socialise with. yesterday, there were 3500 new confirmed covid cases, and scientists have warned the rate of infection is doubling every seven to ten days. i think one would have to say that we are on the edge of losing control, and you've only got to look across the channel to see what is happening in france and what is happening in spain. the french on thursday had 9800 new infections, and one can see that their hospital admissions, and indeed, their intensive care admissions are going up. the rate of infection is much lower than it was at the peak of the pandemic, when it is thought there were

and sir mark walport was right in his warning that the jeopardy is enormous.think they are confused and have a way out because it's in its own way complicated, then we will fail in the disease will come back, and we will have tens of thousands of deaths, we will have an nhs that is challenged, an economy that is shutdown, and we will have a generation that is lost to education. that is the stakes, and we are determined to get it right. and i'm happy to stand here for as long as it takes and be pub quizzed on this or that if it means that we get it right. only this morning in my locality, all but one reception class was shut down due to the covid infection of a teacher. the noble lord, the minister will understand as a father, many parents remain fearful and are now seeking assurance of evidence in safety, holding the government to account afterwards, after any tragedy has happened, will be meaningless. policymakers from around the world are facing exactly the same dilemma — which is that we are determined to have the schools back because the long—term effects

so mike -- sir mark walport, thank you for your thoughts and insights.ple is a professor of outbreak medicine at the university of liverpool. he's also a member of the government's sage advisory group — today he's speaking to us in a personal capacity. we are grateful for your time, professor. you were listening to the news co nfe re nce professor. you were listening to the news conference along with us. what do you make of what you heard? news conference along with us. what do you make of what you heard ?|j think do you make of what you heard?” think it is a very clear warning. it is the first time we have heard patrick vallance and chris whitty stand—up with a very strong united front without the political backdrop andi front without the political backdrop and i hope the nation appreciates the serious position we are in now. this is the time to act and it is time to act across. the messages coming across very clearly. what is the best way to act, in your view? i'm sorry, i missed the first byte of your sentence. what is the best way to act, in your vie

sir mark walport, thank you for your time. if you are just mark walport, thank you for your time.emic while warning that infections were increasing. speaking in the past hour, during a news conference, he said it was too early to tell if national restrictions imposed last week were having an impact on the spread of coronavirus. but he insisted that he would not hesitate to take further measures if the evidence required it. measures he said would be most costly than the ones currently in effect. the government's chief medical officer said the virus they said the rise in cases is being led by young people. this is a little of what the prime minister said. i said that we faced the sad reality that on these figures, we could expect many more daily deaths. and so that is why we announced a package of restrictions and stronger enforcement last week. at the same time, we have been intensifying the local lockdowns in areas where the disease has been flaring up and i want to say i know how tough it is and has been for these communities. i want to pay particular tribute to the students expe

professor sir mark walport, a member of the british government's scientific advisory body, says peoplemain at school and students at university. it comes as about 3,500 coronavirus cases were recorded in the uk, for the second day in a row. lauren moss reports. 0n the final weekend before new restrictions are introduced, there's a stark warning about what could lie ahead. 3,500 more coronavirus cases have been diagnosed for the second day in a row. scientists say although the rate of infection is lower than it was at the peak of the epidemic, covid—19 is growing in the community. i think one would have to say we're on the edge of losing control. and you've only got to look across the channel to see what's happening in france and what's happening in spain. the figures in the uk, on september 5, it was around 1,800 people identified with the infection. 0n the 11th, it was 3,500. there's been an increase in coronavirus cases across all age groups. it's most pronounced among 20—to—39—year—olds. but there's also been a steep rise recently in people over the age of 80 testing positive. those

let's get the views now of sir mark walport, government chief scientific adviser in the united kingdomember of sage — the government's scientific advisory group for emergencies. what is your sense of where we are? 0nly what is your sense of where we are? only at a sense where we have two batting the hatches, in terms of our behaviour and attitude to the virus? 0rare we in behaviour and attitude to the virus? or are we in the position where we have left but a little bit too late? the numbers speak for themselves. the numbers speak for themselves. the numbers speak for themselves. the numbers are going up consistently in the uk at the moment. numbers suggests doubling about every second day. the number of patients in september is just over 1800. if we look across the channel, we can see the numbers in spain, we can see the numbers in france. earlier in the week, france had just over 9800 infections. they area had just over 9800 infections. they are a few weeks ahead, and the number of patients going into intensive care is increasing. it has increased by 93 people on wednesday. this is th

professor sir mark walport, a member of the government's sage advisory committee, said people needed

professor sir mark walport, a member of the government's sage advisory committee, said people need toimit their socialising to ensure children can remain at school and students at university. it comes as oxford university confirmed its clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine will resume. the trial was paused earlier this week due to a participant in the uk becoming ill. this report from our health correspondent, lauren moss. 0n the final weekend before new restrictions are introduced, there's a stark warning about what could lie ahead. 3,500 more coronavirus cases have been diagnosed for the second day in a row. scientists say, although the rate of infection is lower than it was at the peak of the epidemic, covid—19 is growing in the community. i think one would have to say we're on the edge of losing control. and you've only got to look across the channel to see what's happening in france and what's happening in spain. the figures in the uk, on the 5th of september, it was around 1,800 people identified with the infection. 0n the 11th, it was 3,500. there's been an increase in corona

professor sir mark walport, a member of the government's sage advisory committee, said people need to socialising to ensure children can remain at school and students at university. it comes as oxford university confirmed its clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine will resume. the trial was paused earlier this week due to a participant in the uk becoming ill. this report from our health correspondent, lauren moss. 0n the final weekend before new restrictions are introduced, there's a stark warning about what could lie ahead. 3,500 more coronavirus cases have been diagnosed for the second day in a row. scientists say, although the rate of infection is lower than it was at the peak of the epidemic, covid—19 is growing in the community. i think one would have to say we're on the edge of losing control. and you've only got to look across the channel to see what's happening in france and what's happening in spain. the figures in the uk, on the 5th of september, it was around 1,800 people identified with the infection. 0n the 11th, it was 3,500. there's been an increase in coronavirus case

let's hear reaction to this from the former government chief scientific advisor, sir mark walport.on the ist of september. two weeks later, 27, we could go 37 and now there have been 71 on each of two days. a think chris made an important point, some that distinguish the uk from other european countries was that when the infection to men, the animation was rather clear that they showed. he was widely distributed and it is still very widely distributed and there is a risk across the country. although, it's quite clear that is going up faster, particularly in areas across the northeast and northwest, but you can see the intense care missions going up in london. here's our political editor laura kunessberg. a precarious moment for the country and the government and is on the first time you've heard these kind of warnings from the prime minister in recent days. just over a fortnight since the rule of six was brought into applied because cases we re brought into applied because cases were going up again and on the week since the prime minister side of the desk and gave a very unusual ad