New study of coronavirus symptoms shows when patients are most infectious

Scientists found that people who tested positive for Covid-19 ‘shed’ or excrete the virus at ‘high levels’ during the first week of symptoms.

And this shedding makes them at their most infectious for up to eight days after symptoms show – or ten to 11 days for more severe cases.

It comes after the number of cases of coronavirus in the UK rose today to 33,718 – with the death toll standing at 2,961.