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Covid cases surged by 40 percent in England last week, in what is feared to be the start of a fresh wave of the virus, according to a report by MailOnline.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates 1.13million people were infected on any given day in the week ending June 10, the equivalent of one in 50 of the population. It marks the biggest weekly jump since December when Omicron was first seeded in the country.
Cases are also rising in Wales and Northern Ireland (one in 45 had the virus last week) and Scotland (one in 30).
The ONS’ weekly infection survey has become the best barometer of the outbreak in the post-pandemic era after free testing was axed and the daily dashboard was scaled down.
Data suggests the resurgence is being driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron, which are thought to be even more infectious than the parent strain. Scientists also believe the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations may have fuelled the uptick.
Outbreaks of Covid are rising in care homes and hospital admissions are also increasing, and experts fear that it could put more pressure on an already overwhelmed health service.
Meanwhile, there are growing fears the UK could be staring down the barrel of a dual Covid and flu outbreak this winter, with Australia currently being battered by influenza.
It came as Britons flocked to packed beaches and parks today to bask in 33C heat on the hottest day of 2022 so far.
Kara Steel, a senior statistician at the ONS, said, “Infections have increased across all four UK nations, driven by rising numbers of people infected with the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants.
“It remains too early to say if this is the start of another wave, but we continue to monitor the data very closely.”
The ONS survey is the last remaining official surveillance programme used by the Government to track the state of the epidemic. It randomly tests tens of thousands of people every week.
It found the percentage of people testing positive increased in all age groups and English regions in the latest week except the North East, where the trend was uncertain.
Rates were highest in the South East, where 2.4 percent of the population were estimated to be carrying the virus at some point. In the West Midlands, South West, and London, it was 2.2 percent.
Rates were below the national average of 2 percent in Yorkshire and the North West (both 1.9 percent) as well as the East of England and the East Midlands (both 1.8 percent).
In Wales, the estimated number of people testing positive for Covid was 64,800, equating to 2.13 percent of the population or one in 45 people.
There were an estimated 42,900 infections in Northern Ireland, also giving it a rate of one in 45. In Scotland, the number of positive tests was estimated to be 176,900, or around 1 in 30 people.
Today’s ONS report marks the biggest week-on-week rise in cases since the week ending December 31, when the Omicron variant wreaked havoc on the country’s New Year celebrations.
The initial Omicron surge was then followed by a rise in the more infectious BA.2 Omicron offshoot, which pushed weekly cases to a record high of 4.1million in late March.
Experts believe the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-strains are even more infectious than both predecessors and are driving the latest rise.
Their prevalence has nearly doubled every week, according to data from the Sanger Institute — one of the UK’s largest Covid surveillance centers. Both strains combined made up a 41.7 percent share of infections in the week to June 4.
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