“We will have a new wave of infections this month,” said Professor Pagel, of University College London, in a briefing to the Independent Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies. Now hopefully it will not be as high as the previous two waves and may be lower. “But we can not rely on that and we will see more people get infected anyway.” There are four variants of Omicron “all growing fast” at the moment, according to Professor Pagel, while the previous wave in March had two variants. He said: “It is not surprising that we see a new wave of data. What happened is that people do not want to look, and we kind of close our eyes to that. This is now our third wave in six months. So we had about six months of Delta, now we are every two months of Omicron. “Omicron guys are better than Omicron in succession, that did not happen with Delta.” Covid infections in the UK are no longer declining, with some parts of the country showing early signs of possible growth, new data show. The increase is likely to have been caused by a jump in infections compatible with the original Omicron variant BA.1, along with newer variants BA.4 and BA.5. It comes as separate evidence suggests that the recent decline in the number of people in hospitals with Covid-19 may also have stopped. A total of 989,800 people in private households in the UK are estimated to have contracted the virus in the week ended June 2, up from 953,900 the previous week, according to the National Statistics Office (ONS). This is the first time that total infections have been rising every week since the end of March, when the number reached a record 4.9 million at the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave. All four nations have seen a slight increase in the prevalence of the virus, although the ONS describes the trend in Scotland and Wales as “uncertain”. In England, 797,500 people were likely to test positive for Covid-19 last week – the equivalent of about one in 70. This is a weekly increase from 784,100, which was also about one in 70. Northern Ireland has seen infections rise for the second consecutive week to be 27,700 people, or one in 65, out of 24,300 people or one in 75. In Scotland, 124,100 people were likely to have the virus last week, or one in 40, from 105,900 or one in 50. Wales has seen Covid-19 infections rise slightly to around 40,500 or one in 75 , from 39,600, also one in 75. “In all four UK countries, the percentage of people tested positive for Covid-19 compatible with Omicron variants BA.1, BA.4 and BA.5 increased in the week ended June 2, 2022,” the ONS said. . Omicron BA.1 is the original Omicron variant that caused an increase in infections in the UK in December and early January. BA.4 and BA.5 are newer variants recently classified by the UK Health Insurance Service as “variations of concern”, following an analysis that found that both were likely to have a “growth advantage” over BA.2 , which is still the dominant executive in the country. Initial findings indicate that BA.4 and BA.5 have a degree of “immune leakage”, meaning that the immune system can no longer recognize or fight a virus, which is likely to contribute to their developmental advantage over BA.2, said UKHSA. The latest estimates of Covid-19 infections come as separate evidence suggests that the recent drop in the number of people being treated in hospitals for the virus may have stopped. About 4,082 patients in England had Covid-19 on June 9, up 6% from the previous week, while in Scotland 637 patients registered on June 5, the last available date, up 8% each week. The number of patients in both nations had previously had a steady downward trend since early April, following the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave. In Wales and Northern Ireland, data on hospitalized people with the virus have leveled off in recent days. The number of patients across the UK remains much lower than the peaks seen in previous waves of the virus. The percentage of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK is estimated to have risen among those aged 35 to 49, with early signs of an increase among those aged 12 to 24, the ONS added. The trend in recent weeks has been “uncertain” in all other age groups. Among the regions of England, contamination levels are estimated to have risen in the north-west, London and south-east, with early signs of rising in the east of England. Levels have fallen in the southwest and west Midlands, while the trend in all other areas was uncertain. Read more related articles Read more related articles
