Britain’s new wave of Covid continues to grow with cases rising by a third in a week, with data suggesting as many as one in 18 people have the virus in some parts of the country.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimated that nearly 2.3 million people in the UK had the virus every day for the week ending June 24, with analysts linking the emergence to the new Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
In England alone, 1.8 million Covid infections were recorded in the latest ONS infection survey, about one in 30 people, up about 38 percent from the previous week.
Scotland recorded the highest Covid levels among the UK countries with an estimated 288,200 people having Covid, about one in 18 of the population.
The number of cases also continued to rise in Northern Ireland and Wales.
The rise in cases comes just a week after the UK Health Security Agency confirmed that the Omicron sub-strains BA.4 and BA.5 are now the dominant strains in the UK.
They are thought to be even more contagious than their ancestral versions, which were responsible for cases that reached pandemic heights in December and April, but are just as mild.
Celebrations for the Queen’s platinum anniversary, semi-annual vacations, and warm weather would also fuel the latest wave. Some have also pointed out that Britons are confusing Covid symptoms with hay fever. But infectious disease specialists are confident the wave ahead will not be worse than other spikes seen this year.
It’s because Boris Johnson today refused to rule out more Covid restrictions for good – as Covid hospitalizations continue to rise.
The ONS data also estimates that 106,000 had the virus in Wales last week, about one in 30 of the population, similar to England.
Northern Ireland continued to enjoy the lowest levels of the virus in the UK with just 71,000, about one in 25 people, infected, although this is still an increase compared to last week’s estimate.
The weekly ONS report, which is based on swabs from a sample of thousands of Britons, is now considered the best barometer of the outbreak since free testing was discontinued.
The data also suggests that Covid cases are increasing in all regions of England.
The number of infections was highest in London, where an estimated 3.7 percent of the population had the virus.
This was followed by the east of England, the northwest and the northeast, with infection rates of 3.6 percent.
The South West registered 3.5 percent infections, the West Midlands 3.2 percent, the South East 3.1 percent and Yorkshire The Humber 3 percent. The East Midlands had the lowest Covid infection rate of the English regions at 2.8 percent.
Nationally, parts of Scotland recorded the highest infection rates with ONS which estimates that 5.5 percent of the population in the north and south of the country had the virus.
Sarah Crofts, head of analytical output for the ONS Infection Survey said: ‘In the UK we have seen a sustained increase in over half a million infections, probably caused by the growth of BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
“This increase is seen in all ages, countries and regions of England.”
“We will continue to monitor the data closely to see if this growth continues in the coming weeks.”
The latest numbers on the virus came as Boris Johnson refused to rule out more Covid restrictions for good, saying: there were no plans for curbs ‘currently’ as he seemed to leave the door open for future action.
In an interview with LBC this morning at a NATO summit in Madrid, he was given the chance to one day impose restrictions again.
“I don’t think we see any reason for that at the moment and the most important thing is vaccination,” he said.
But Mr Johnson suggested a sharp spike in hospital admissions could be the trigger point for new restrictions.
He added: “We don’t see the kind of pressure on medical services that would lead us to something like this.”
Daily Covid hospital admissions have nearly tripled in the past month to around 1,200 – although only a fraction of patients are primarily sick with the disease.
Johnson declined to rule out a future lockdown in April, saying it would be “irresponsible” to throw away anything “that could save lives” if a more deadly variant emerged.
Boris Johnson didn’t definitively rule out future Covid restrictions when given the chance at LBC
Covid infections have almost doubled in England in two weeks, to about 1.4 million in the past week
Daily hospitalizations from Covid have nearly tripled to around 1,200 in the past month – although only a fraction of patients are mainly sick with the disease
Numbers of Covid cases have diminished as vaccines and natural immunity have broken the link between infection and serious illness.
Ministers are now looking to NHS virus figures to gauge the severity of the outbreak, which has been rising for more than a month.
There are currently between 1,200 and 1,400 daily withdrawals for Covid, compared to about 450 at the end of May.
But the admission numbers alone don’t tell the full story, as analysis suggests that only a third (37.7 percent) are sick primarily from Covid.
The rest are known as “incidental” cases, those that went to the hospital for some other reason but happened to test positive.
Occasional incidents are becoming more common because the highly contagious but milder Omicron subvariants are so prevalent in the wider community.
Covid deaths – another important statistic – have risen to around 20 per day, according to the Office for National Statistics in England and Wales.
The ONS breaks down deaths that were primarily caused by the virus, rather than it being a secondary factor.
However, deaths are the biggest lagging indicator and can take weeks to rise due to an increase in infections.
During his interview on LBC, Johnson insisted that vaccination against Covid was the most important way to avoid future restrictions.
Four in five people over the age of 75 and people with compromised immune systems have received a fourth dose – or a second booster.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 1.36 million people in England were infected in the week to 18 June.
That is 70 percent more than the 797,000 estimated to have had the virus by early June.
The outbreak has been fueled by the spread of BA.4 and BA.5, which are thought to be more contagious but just as mild as the original Omicron strain.
New estimates from the ONS will be published this afternoon.
A separate ONS Covid death report showed the virus was directly responsible for just 161 deaths in England and Wales, or an average of 23 per day, in the past week.
Sir Jonathan Van-Tam last week dismissed the hysteria that a recent surge in Covid cases marks another wave of the pandemic, saying Britain must learn to live with the virus.
I have suggested that a sharp spike in hospital admissions could be the trigger point for new restrictions
Referring to data on hospitalization and death, the country’s former deputy medical director claimed there is “nothing alarming in these numbers.”
Sir Jonathan revealed that even he had given up wearing his face mask.
The spread of the new variants is said to have accelerated during large gatherings for the Queen’s platinum anniversary and semi-annual holidays.
Some have also pointed out that Britons are confusing Covid symptoms with hay fever.
The UKHSA estimates that BA.4 and BA.5 account for approximately 22 percent and 39 percent of cases, respectively.
The latest analysis suggests that BA.5 is growing 35 percent faster than the previously dominant Omicron BA.2, while BA.4 is growing about 19 percent faster.
This suggests that BA.5 is likely to become the dominant variant in the UK.