WARWICKSHIRE'S CONFIRMED CASES UP 33 AT 1,428 WITH TOTAL FOR MIDLANDS RISING BY 729 – MORE THAN LONDON'S AT 2002

MARKET STALLS, CAR SALES CENTRES AND GARDEN FETES 'SET FOR RETURN IN EARLY JUNE'

ATHERSTONE and North Warwickshire had another five new cases of Covid-19 out of 258 additionally reported across neighbouring local authorities in the last four days as lockdown locals got a bank holiday boost from Boris Johnson.

The official total of 184 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases comes as the Prime Minister hinted at easing restrictions on open-air activities next month.

The "slow steps" accessibility of market stalls, car sales centres and garden fetes are looking set for a June 1 return with National Trust parks open for business providing indoor attractions remain out of bounds.

Even some non-essential shops are reportedly to be given the all-clear.

Looking to gradually ease restrictions comes as around one in six people in London and one in 20 elsewhere in England have already had coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said as he announced plans for antibody certificates.

Data gathered from an antibody surveillance study suggests 17 per cent of people in London and around five per cent in England have tested positive for antibodies to coronavirus.

The Government has agreed a deal with pharmaceutical firms Roche and Abbott for more than 10 million antibody tests, to see if people have had Covid-19.

They will first be offered to health and social care staff as well as patients and care home residents, and the UK Government is also arranging supplies for the devolved administrations, with each nation deciding how to use its test allocation.

While it remains unclear what level of immunity people develop once they have had Covid-19, some experts hope a degree of immunity lasts for at least a year or two.

But scientific experts from Imperial College London have criticised the Government for "wasting" three weeks until 1.5 million people were infected worldwide with coronavirus before finally introducing a total lockdown on the the UK.

And Sir Ian Boyd, who sits on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said "it would have made quite a big difference" to the death rate – now standing at 36,793 and in reality likely to be over 45,000 – if ministers had acted "a week or two weeks earlier".

A new study from Columbia University has said if social distancing had been in place seven days earlier, the United States could have prevented 36,000 deaths through early May.

Experts said the "remote" possibility the virus may have somehow escaped from a testing lab could not be ruled out.

Professor Nikolai Petrovsky, who headed the Australian team, said the lab at Wuhan in China should not be overlooked in the ongoing search for the origins of the outbreak.

He added: "This is either a remarkable coincidence or a sign of human intervention. It is possible the virus was a fluke event and it turns out humans were the perfect host."

Meanwhile, newly-released figures put the cases of people testing positive in the North Warwickshire district at a rate at 284 per 100,00 population.

The statistics are revealed in additional information on 'lower tier' local authorities now provided by the Government via the Office for National Statistics.

The borough sits fourth out of nine in terms of cases per 100,000 among the neighbouring local council areas bordering Atherstone.

North Warwickshire's case rate of 284 per 100,000 population is higher than the Warwickshire figure of 250.1 and England (266.7) and the West Midlands at 280. The UK figure of 382.6 per 100,000 population is bumped up by a Welsh rate of 424.

Close neighbours Nuneaton and Bedworth now top the cases per 100,000 table for authorities around Atherstone's North Warwickshire borough – passing the 300 barrier at 314.2. It has recorded a total of 405 Covid cases.

With the inclusion of population, recorded cases and rate per 100,000 population, the full table of authorities which have a boundary touching North Warwickshire reads:

Nuneaton & Bedworth (pop 128,902): Cases 405 at rate of 314.2 cases per 100,000;

Solihull (population 214,909): Cases 664, at rate of 309 cases per 100,000;

Birmingham (pop 1.08 million): Cases 3,402 at rate of 298.1 cases per 100,000;

North Warwickshire (pop 64,850): Cases 184, at rate of 283.7 cases per 100,000;

Lichfield (pop 103,965:) Cases: 284, at rate of 273.2 cases per 100,000;

Tamworth (pop 76,678 ): Cases 174, at rate of 226.9 cases per 100,000;

Coventry (pop 325,949): Cases 802, at rate of 218.7 cases per 100,000;

Hinckley & Bosworth (pop 112,423): Cases 238, at rate of 211.7 cases per 100,000; and

North West Leicestershire (pop 102,126): Cases 150, at rate of 146.9 cases per 100,000.

Eight people in Atherstone have lost their lives to the virus, putting the town at a current rate of 75 deaths per 100,000, according to the Office for National Statistics, with only Birmingham above on 78.

The figures are relevant for coronavirus deaths between March 1 and April 17.

North Warwickshire, which finds itself surrounded by no fewer than eight other adjoining Midland authorities, has recorded 24 deaths in that timescale – with an ONS mortality rate of 35 per 100,000.

Warwickshire's confirmed cases now stand at 1,428 (up 33 in the last four days), Staffordshire is on 2,183 (a rise of 64 in the same period), Leicestershire on 1,256 (increase of 72) and Birmingham on 3,402 (up 62). Midland cases total 25,366 (up 739), the North West 24,890, while London is on 26,780 – up only 201 in the last four days.

Hospital admissions are falling with 9,331 people in hopsital on May 21 comapred with 11,429 on May 12. The number of daily admissions has fallen in a week from 736 to 675 a day – its peak on April 2 being 3,121.

The UK death toll increased by 1,089 over the last four days with 118 recorded in the last 24 hours and 282 the previous day. The tally now stands at to 36,793 – the highest in Europe by more than 4,000 with Italy's tally on 32,785 fatalities.

Overall a total of 3,458,905 tests have been carried out, and 259,559 cases have been confirmed positive – up 2,409 cases from yesterday.

The UK now sits fifth in the world table of recorded cases, behind Spain on 282,852, Russia on 344,481 with Brazil moving up into second place on 354,460.

The US in the top position – on nearly 100,000 fatalities (99,132) and with 1.68 million people testing positive.

The virus is still spreading at epidemic rates in nearly half of US states, with Texas at the top of the list, according to a study by Imperial College London.

"There's evidence that the US is not under control, as an entire country," Samir Bhatt, a senior lecturer in geostatistics at the college, said.

The death tally across the globe from coronavirus stands at 345,806. More than 2.28 million have recovered worldwide out of 5.5 million recorded cases.