The second wave of the Wuhan virus in the United Kingdom may not be fought with other means than the national lockdown, the epidemiologists suggested.

England will be subject to tough new restrictions from Friday.

Residents within Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham, will be unable to socialise with individuals outside of their household or support bubble.

Gatherings in England are limited to no more than six people, whether indoors and outdoors.

Leading scientists advising the UK government have proposed a two-week national lockdown in October to try to tackle the rising number of Wuhan virus cases.

The number of positive virus cases is doubling every seven to eight days in England, according to statistical analysis released last Friday by Imperial College London and Ipsos Mori.

The analysis estimated the reproduction rate of the virus, or the R, the average number of new cases generated by an infected person, stood at 1.7, meaning the disease is spreading exponentially.



More than 80 per cent: there will be a second wave

More than 80 per cent of UK adults believe there will be a second wave of Wuhan virus later this year, according to an opinion poll published at the weekend.

Two-thirds of respondents to the Opinium poll said they favoured the government’s tighter restrictions, which came into force on Monday.

The poll found that more than half believe the UK is coming out of lockdown too quickly, up from 45 per cent two weeks ago, while the proportion who believe the UK is reopening “at the right speed” has dropped from 31 per cent to 24 per cent.