Dr Hilary Jones has explained why there haven't been as more coronavirus deaths, despite an increase in UK daily cases.
The UK has recorded 2,988 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, marking the biggest single-day jump since May 23 - and up from the 1,813 infections announced yesterday.
Yet the death toll has only increased by two, which brings the total death toll to 41,551.
Addressing the new figures on Good Morning Britain, Dr Hilary said that there were a "number of possible explanations" for it.
"Firstly, we're seeing more cases of it in younger people - people aged 14 to 44," Dr Hilary said. "Younger people have stronger immune systems and are better able to cope.
"There's another theory with social distancing, people are getting a lower viral load, so there's less exposure to the virus but still exposure and that is allowing their immune systems to deal with it better.
"Another explanation is that the virus has mutated into a weaker form, which is very unlikely, there's no evidence of that yet.
He added that there was an additional explanation, which he described as "interesting".
Dr Hilary said: "With the more widespread use of laboratories carrying out PCR testing, there's no precise standardisation of the test.
"The test involves amplification of viral particles and samples and the more you have to cycle that amplification process, the more chance you have of picking up tiny fragments of the virus, which means the person tests positive but isn't actually infectious to other people.
"That could explain the low death rate at the moment. However, there's certainly no room for complaints here and Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is right to be concerned because there could be a time lag between the cases we're seeing now and a higher death rate going onto the future."
"That's what no one wants.'
*Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV
