A DOCTOR has explained why the death rate for coronavirus is remaining low despite the increasing number of cases.

Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain, Dr Hilary Jones told viewers that here are "number of possible explanations" for this.

It comes as 2,988 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded Sunday.

Discussing the data on the show, Dr Hilary told host Charlotte Hawkins: "Firstly, we're seeing more cases of it in younger people - people aged 14 to 44.

The Argus: Coronavirus cases jumped by almost 3,000 on Sunday (PA)Coronavirus cases jumped by almost 3,000 on Sunday (PA)

"Younger people have stronger immune systems and are better able to cope."

He continued: "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.

The ITV doctor added: "With the more widespread use of laboratories carrying out PCR testing, there's no precise standardisation of the test.

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"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."

Matt Hancock has warned that coronavirus infections among young people could quickly spread through the population after a sharp rise in cases.

“The rise in the number of cases that we have seen is concerning,” Mr Hancock said.

“The cases are predominantly among younger people but we have seen in other countries across the world and in Europe this sort of rise in the cases among younger people lead to a rise across the population as a whole, so it so important that people don’t allow this illness to infect their grandparents and to lead to the sort of problems that we saw earlier in the year.”