6.6 Million Brits May Already Have Coronavirus

The team behind a King’s College London app launched to track symptoms revealed over 10% of those with the app showed symptoms of the virus. If that rate were to extend to the population in general, a massive 6.6 million Brits could already have the virus. These shocking figures come just days after the UK ramped up its coronavirus response, and amidst concerns about inaccurate testing numbers.

The official numbers for the UK at the time of writing are currently just below 10,000 infected, but this data argues the real number could be many times more than that. If this data were true, the UK could be just a short period from a huge health crisis as a number of these early cases could require medical attention.

The app is intended to help the NHS track the spread of the virus and learn about potential hotspots before they become a medical crisis in hospitals. This data could help the NHS fight the spread of the disease but letting researchers and medical teams learn where the most resources are needed, and where they should be aggressively investigating chains of infection to stop the spread.

This data comes as a reminder of how serious this crisis could be, and as a reason why countries around the world are moving to lockdowns and urging people to stay home. If the virus is this widespread already, staying home would be one of the only ways to stop it from spreading further.