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SCIENTISTS have predicted the exact date they think the UK will be free of coronavirus.

Researchers in Singapore said that there will be no more cases of the deadly bug in the UK by September 30.

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 UK experts said there will be some days in June where no deaths from coronavirus are recorded
UK experts said there will be some days in June where no deaths from coronavirus are recordedCredit: Alamy

Academics from the Singapore University of Technology and Design used mathematical modelling to predict that the UK will have beaten coronavirus in four months’ time.

The team of scientists made the estimate on May 7, when around 30,000 people had died in the UK.

On May 8, they made updated predictions for other countries, saying that the virus will have left Italy by October 24, the United States by November 11, and Singapore by October 27.

The team have cautioned people from pinning their hopes to the estimates, saying that predictions are “uncertain by nature”.

They added: “Over-optimism based on some predicted end dates is dangerous because it may loosen our disciplines and controls and cause the turnaround of the virus and infection, and must be avoided.”

ZERO DEATHS

It comes after experts from the UK predicted that some days in June will see no coronavirus deaths in the country.

Professor Carl Heneghan from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University said: “I think by the end of June we’ll be looking at the data and finding it difficult to find people with this illness, if the current trends continue in the deaths.

“But we will continue to have these sporadic up and downs for about four to six weeks.”

He added: “People shouldn’t panic or get out of context if suddenly, say, we’ve had no deaths for four days, and now we’ve had eight or ten, because we’ll see that as you go down lower numbers, [there will be] a bit more variation in the actual data.”

Statistician Dr Jason Oke, also from Oxford University, said the rate of deaths was dropping by 30 a day, but urged caution in predicting when the number of deaths would fall to zero.

He said: “Looking at trends over time, still there is a steady decline in deaths and if you were tempted to project that trend into the future you would have to be cautious.

“They are dropping at about 30 a day… So you can do the maths and wonder if that continues, for how much longer we will see Covid deaths.”

As of 5pm on 21 May, 36,393 people had died of coronavirus in the UK, an increase of 351 on the previous day.