'COVID-19 patients dying in UK now were infected before lockdown'

As of Monday, the UK has reported 19,784 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 1,231 deaths.

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute at the University of Oxford, said: "It can take up to two weeks from infection to onset of symptoms. For over 80% of people these symptoms are mild, for the much smaller number who develop the most serious illness, intensive care is needed around 10 days later."

"For those who do not recover but die, data from China suggests this takes around another four days. The tragic deaths today will be from people infected roughly a month ago. It is inevitable that there will be more tragedies for families ahead," the Metro newspaper quoted the Professor as saying.

He however, emphasised that by following the government's advice on social distancing, the British public can "reduce the final death toll".

"We must expect and welcome changes in government advice as science, medicine and social science work together to learn more."

The UK's highest daily increase in deaths is 260, confirmed by the Department of Health on Saturday.

Eleanor Riley, professor of immunology and infectious disease, University of Edinburgh, said it would be "most unwise" to infer any trend from "a single day's data", reports the Metro newspaper.

Professor David Spiegelhalter, chairman of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, said: "It is still too early to claim that the curve is beginning to flatten off.

"It is also important not to over-interpret counts for single days: delays in reporting can lead to the numbers varying far more than one would expect by chance alone."