The brokerage firm Peel Hunt has warned that governments need to carefully consider easing lockdown restrictions designed to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The global daily trend of Covid-19 cases is now starting to plateau, signalling the peak of the crisis, the firm said in a research note published this morning. The number recorded on 14 April was 71,572, down from daily peaks of 101,736 on April 3 and 94,629 a week later.