Around 17,000 cases missed in the first wave

Up to 17,000 cases of coronavirus a day were missed in official figures at the height of the first wave, newly released GP records suggest. The data from NHS Digital on patients who had Covid-19 clinically diagnosed or suspected records a high of 20,475 on April 17 last year, when government figures show only 3,452. Many people with the virus struggled to access testing during the early stages of the pandemic when testing services were in their infancy.