Rise in car use by fed-up Brits is ‘troubling’, says government scientist

A RISE in car use during the lockdown by fed-up Brits is "troubling", a government scientist has said tonight.

Deputy chief scientific adviser Dame Angela McLean warned the number of motor journeys was "creeping up".

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She told the daily No 10 press conference: "For motor vehicles what you see is a pattern that looks a bit like commuting because it's low every weekend and we do worry about that creeping up."I think all of us remember that what we've done together which is to stay home has worked to protect the NHS and save lives and as one of the people who looks at this data and thinks about how it fits into how we think about the future it does trouble me that the dark blue line [use of motor vehicles] is creeping up again."

Dame Angela said the UK was now trying to emulate the success of the contact tracing policy adopted by South Korea.

"South Korea is really the place in the world that we can look to and say this works," she said.

"It is a large country like we are. They did have quite a big outbreak actually that they brought under control with contact tracing.

"I think they are a fine example to us and we should try to emulate what they have achieved."

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The UK's coronavirus death toll passed 29,000 today as 693 more people died - but the true figure could be much higher.

However new statistics revealed the real coronavirus death toll could be a third higher than initially reported.

Coronavirus was recorded on 29,648 death certificates in England and Wales up to April 24, the Office of National Statistics revealed today.

That is 33.7 per cent higher than the 22,173 coronavirus deaths the Department for Health revealed at the time.

As of yesterday, the Department for Health had only announced 28,734 coronavirus deaths across the entire UK.

If that figure is under-reported by the same level, it could mean more than 36,000 have died of coronavirus in Britain already.

It comes as shock figures revealed more than 6,000 people have died of coronavirus in care homes across England and Wales.

Almost a third of all coronavirus deaths were in care homes after the deadly bug hit some of the most vulnerable in our society.

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Meanwhile the Sun revealed radical measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus could be in place for up to a year.

Screens between desks, staff sitting back-to-back and a ban on hot desking and sharing of equipment are among moves employers must introduce when lockdown is lifted.

The new measures - proposed in draft documents on a return to workplaces - also require staggered shift times to avoid crowding on public transport.

Handwashing kit must be at entry and exit points, with regular cleaning of worktops. And yellow and black tape will tell people where to stand in lifts.