The increase, with an estimated one in 35 people testing positive, is being driven by newer variants.
Image source, Getty ImagesCovid infections are continuing to rise in the UK, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
The data suggests around 1.7 million people were estimated to have Covid in the week ending 18 June.
This is around one in 35 people – an increase of 23% on the week before.
Experts say two new fast-spreading subvariants of Omicron – called BA.4 and BA.5 – are likely to be driving new infections.
People can catch these variants even if they have had Covid recently.
But BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron are not thought to be any more lethal than other types of Covid. Vaccines are still saving lives. Most people will not be very ill with Covid.
Image source, Getty Images
‘Frame the risks’
Prof Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, who until recently was England’s deputy chief medical officer, told the BBC the country was in a different situation to the peaks in infections seen earlier in the year.
He said: “I don’t wear a face covering, but if there were circumstances where I felt it was a really closed environment, with very high crowding and very intense social interaction, then those are the situations where I might think ‘should I or shouldn’t I’?
“And I think people have got to learn to frame those risks for themselves.”
The professor, who is now pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Nottingham’s faculty of medicine and health sciences, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, that it was time to start reframing how we think about Covid, thanks to the success of vaccines.
“In terms of its kind of lethality, the picture now is much, much, much closer to seasonal flu than it was when [coronavirus] first emerged.
“And you know, we just accept in the winter that, if you’ve got seasonal flu and you’re poorly for a few days, it disrupts your life. And so I think we’ve got start to frame Covid in a little bit more of those terms.”
He said experts would continue to watch closely for any large rises in severe illness and more people ending up in hospital or intensive care.
Image source, BBC News
Kara Steel, senior statistician at the ONS, said the largest increases were seen in Scotland.
She added: “In England, infections increased across all age groups, with the lowest level of infection seen in school-aged children.”
The figures are collated by testing thousands of people from UK households – whether they have symptoms or not – to estimate how much virus is around.
In the week ending 18 June, estimated Covid rates were:
- One in 40 in England – up from one in 50 the week before
- One in 45 in Wales – the same as the previous week
- One in 30 in Northern Ireland – up from one in 45
- One in 20 in Scotland – up from one in 30
