However Susan Michie, the director of the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change, said it could be time to close pubs and restaurants altogether.
“These are dangerous times, and it is of the utmost importance that the Government listens to both those advising Government directly and those complementing that advice on Independent Sage,” she said.
“The latter have consistently argued that high-risk venues such as indoor pubs and restaurants should be closed to maximise the chance of children being able to attend school. As the chief medical officer said: ‘We can’t have it all’.”
The ONS has been swabbing thousands of people in the community as part of its infection surveillance programme, which picks up asymptomatic individuals as well as people with symptoms.
The chance of testing positive has also increased for people who have travelled abroad. Around 0.1 per cent of people who had remained in the UK in the past month were infected, compared to triple that for those who had left the country.
However, the study found there was no evidence that people working in patient-facing roles were more likely to be infected than other working age adults.
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said the Government would “not hesitate” to introduce further measures if Covid-19 case numbers continued to rise, adding: “Anyone can catch coronavirus, and anyone can spread it. We all have a crucial part to play in keeping the number of new infections down and protecting our loved ones.”