The clear rise in Covid-19 infections shows we are only at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a top WHO doctor.
Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation's Special Envoy on Covid-19, also said lockdowns aren't helpful in stopping outbreaks developing - only slowing them down.
He said on BBC's Newsnight: "If you look at the graphs showing numbers of new cases occurring each day over time and I'm watching an acceleration.
"So this pandemic, globally, isn't going away at all. Perhaps we're quite early on at the beginning of it.
"And as I see this, I think of just the scale of the task that faces so many countries now, particularly poorer countries, much poorer than the UK."
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The only way to eliminate the virus is to establish an effective track and trace system, he suggested, something which the UK appears to have struggled with in recent weeks.
He also said he hoped we would not see the reintroduction of lockdowns that brought economies around the world to a shuddering halt.
Emily Maitlis asked: "Do you think we'll ever see the same kind of global lockdown that we've experienced in 2020?"
"Oh, I really hope not. You see, lockdowns aren't really very helpful in stopping outbreaks from developing.
"They do slow them down. But the only way you can deal with an outbreak at any time is to find people with the disease and isolate them and find their contacts and isolate them and just stop it.
"And we will be able I think to do that kind of activity without needing to resort to lockdowns, especially when you've got low case numbers like what's happening in Britain right now.
"Tougher in the United States, but in Britain I believe it should be possible to keep the numbers down and keep the economy going and not have to have widespread lockdowns.
"Perhaps a little bit local movement restriction but absolutely not the kind of lockdown that happened earlier this year."
Last night it was reported that Boris Johnson is "extremely concerned" that a second wave of coronavirus could hit the UK within two weeks.
The Prime Minister earlier warned we are seeing "signs of a second wave" of Covid-19 in continental Europe.
It comes as the town of Oldham has seen tough coronavirus lockdown restrictions reimposed after a worrying spike in cases.
A Downing Street source told the Daily Mail : "The PM is extremely concerned by what he's seeing abroad and fears we could be seeing the same thing here in a fortnight.
"People have got to realise we are still in the middle of a pandemic.
"He wants to go further on opening things up and getting people back to work, but he knows it'll be his head on the block if things go wrong."
