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 Close to 3,000 new cases were recorded on Sunday and again on Monday
- a sudden jump from numbers much closer to 1,000 for most of
August, and the highest since May.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said young people had become too
relaxed about social distancing and could endanger older relatives
through complacency.
"Don't kill your gran by catching coronavirus and then passing it
on. And you can pass it on before you've had any symptoms at all,"
he told a BBC radio programme aimed at younger audiences.
Some 41,554 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for
COVID-19 in Britain, the worst fatalities toll in Europe, though in
recent weeks infection numbers had been lower than in several
European neighbours.
"The numbers have been going up and we've seen in other countries
where this leads, and it is not a good place," Hancock added.
England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam warned of a
"creeping geographic trend" as higher infection rates were being
seen in many parts. "That is really a signal that we've got to
change this now, got to start taking it seriously, very seriously
again," he told Channel 4 News.
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Britain enforced a relatively strict lockdown between late March and early July,
but has been gradually easing it since. Pubs, restaurants, shops and gyms are
open, albeit with social distancing.
The government increased penalties for serious breaches in August after police
broke up several raves.
Tighter restrictions have been reimposed in places with a spike, including
Manchester in northern England, Glasgow and other areas of Scotland, and
Caerphilly county in Wales.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon, Guy Faulconbridge and William Schomberg; Editing
by Andrew Cawthorne)
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