With coronavirus cases in the UK continuing to decrease, many Brits are hopeful that the end of the pandemic could finally be in sight.
But an expert has warned that he would be ‘very surprised’ if the UK avoided a second wave of the virus.
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee heard that countries like China and Iran have experienced second waves of the outbreak, and that Hong Kong is nearing its third wave.
Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, told the committee that with lockdown restrictions easing, it is likely the UK will also see a return of the Covid-19 epidemic.
He said: "I think it is possible that we might not have a second wave.
"But I think given the fact that the lockdown has now been largely released, we're now back in action, and we have still, pretty rapidly declining, but a pretty reasonable level of infections in the community, I would be very surprised if we avoided the second wave."
Sir John added that this posed two questions.
This would be whether there would be a number of single outbursts around the country, and then a second wave, or if the UK was just going to get a second wave and when.
Sir Bell's warning comes shortly after the Office for National Statistics revealed that the coronavirus death toll in England and Wales is 10,000 higher than thought.
A further 38 people have died of Covid-19 in the UK in one of the lowest daily falls since lockdown began.
A total of 41,736 people have now died of the disease in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the broader community.
The Department of Health announced that 1,056 more people have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the country wide total to 296,857 confirmed cases so far.
An additional 93,163 tests were taken in the past day.
