London, October 5: Nearly 16,000 coronavirus cases went unreported in the United Kingdom due to a technical error, authorities have said. According to Public Health England (PHE), 15,841 coronavirus (COVID-19) cases between September 25 and October 2 were not counted in the UK daily case figures due to the glitch which has been resolved. After the "uncounted" numbers were added, the UK's COVID-19 tally rose to 505,619. UK Could Face Third COVID-19 Wave, Says Scientist.

The UK reported 12,872 new cases on Saturday. However, the government said the tally included outstanding cases that were not recorded earlier. The technical glitch, which was caused by some data files reporting positive test results exceeding the maximum file size, overnight on October 2 during the process that transfers COVID-19 positive lab results into reporting dashboards, PHE's interim chief executive Michael Brodie told BBC. Boris Johnson Announces Fresh Restrictions For Next 6 Months in UK Amid Second Wave of COVID-19 Cases; Work From Home For Employees 'Where Possible', Pubs To Close at 10 PM Among Other Announcements.

Brodie added they worked with NHS Test and Trace to "quickly resolve the issue and transferred all outstanding cases immediately into the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing system". After it was learnt that 15,841 coronavirus cases were not reported in the daily's count, a thorough risk assessment was done "to ensure outstanding cases were prioritised for contact tracing effectively", said Test and Trace and Public Health England joint medical adviser Susan Hopkins.

The glitch delayed efforts to trace contacts of people who tested positive for COVID-19. Labour called the glitch as "shambolic". Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned it may be "bumpy through to Christmas" and beyond as the UK deals with coronavirus. Speaking at a BBC program, the PM said there was "hope" in beating Covid, but called on the public to "act fearlessly but with common sense".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 05, 2020 03:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).