Coronavirus in Yorkshire: Experts warn 'tougher action' is needed in UK

As Prime Minister Boris Johnson comes under pressure to increase restrictions on movement to tackle Covid-19, Martin Hibberd, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "The UK response has clearly not been sufficient, as numbers are continuing to climb and we are at risk of following the trajectory of other European countries.

"If the aim is simply to delay the peak of the outbreak until the summer, then perhaps the UK response is enough.

"However, WHO (the World Health Organisation) is challenging the world to do more and we know from China that aggressive curtailment policies can work to reduce numbers."

However, he said following the approaches in China was not an "easy path", adding he preferred a "more nuanced approach, such as that being adopted by Singapore".

This includes extensive contact tracing of people diagnosed with coronavirus, together with other social distancing measures that do not include locking down wide areas and schools.

"To do this, the UK would need to rapidly increase its testing facilities and target to test every possible case, together with other social distancing tools to make this work," he said.

Meanwhile, Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Now is the time for the UK Government to ban large gatherings, ask people to stop non-essential travel, recommend employers shift to home-working and ramp up the response.

"The curve can be shifted (like South Korea and Singapore) but only with Government action."