Covid-19 infections continue to rise in the UK, and the number of people in England is estimated to have risen 20% to 1.3 million last week, according to the latest official survey.
The rapid spread of infections is driven by new subvariants of Omicron and has increased the prevalence of the virus in the population to the highest level since April 2022, the weekly study by the National Bureau of Statistics showed .
Covid’s latest wave has hit Scotland hardest. About one in 20 people or 4.76% of Scotland’s population had Covid-19, 40% more than the previous week.
Data released on Friday, covering the week to June 18, shows that an estimated 1.36 million (2.5 per cent of the population) in England would be positive for Covid. This is an increase of 20% over the previous week, which increased by 43% over the previous week.
Kara Steel, a senior statistician in the Covid-19 Infection Survey, said: “These increases are largely driven by Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5… In England, infections increased by all age groups, with the lowest level of infection observed in school-age children “.
In children aged two to 11 years, the infection rate is only 0.9%, while it is 3.3% in adults aged 25 to 34 years.
Current levels of infection are the highest since late April, though well below those experienced when Omicron first engulfed the UK earlier this year.
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A separate analysis published by the UK Health Security Agency showed how Omicron subvariants drive infection. BA.4 accounts for 22% and BA.5 39% of new cases in England.
Both have a growth advantage over the previously dominant Omicron BA.2 strain. UKHSA estimates that BA.5 grows 35% faster than BA.2, while BA.4 increases 19% faster, suggesting that BA.5 will become the dominant variant of Covid-19 in the UK.
Reassuringly, there is no evidence that BA.4 and BA.5 cause more serious disease than the previous variants. “We have seen an increase in hospital admissions in line with community infections, but vaccinations continue to keep admissions and deaths in intensive care units at low levels,” said Susan Hopkins, UKHSA’s chief medical adviser .
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The ONS infection study is based on testing a representative range of UK households. About 150,000 samples are analyzed each month. The survey does not depend on the results of the tests sent by the general population.
The latest ONS data “highlights the ability of these viruses to evade antibody immunity,” said Stephen Griffin, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Leeds. “The speed with which they are causing waves around the world is worrying.”
The government is considering reducing the ONS Covid poll, a move Griffin called “short-sighted and negligent.” “The ONS is an excellent means of assessing Covid’s situation in the UK, as the survey is independent of the test bias,” he said.