By Number of people with Covid in UK rises 32% to almost 2.3 million
The latest figures show the number of people in the UK with Covid has risen by 32% to almost 2.3 million as a new strain of Omicron sweeps the nation.
It is up from 1.7 million people the previous week and the highest estimate for total infections since late April but it is still below the record high of 4.9 million which was reached at the end of March.
Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 are likely behind the latest surge, the Office for National Statistics said as they are thought to be the most dominant strains in the UK.
In England, more than 1.8 million people were likely to have had the virus last week, the equivalent of around one in 30.
This is up from 1.4 million, or one in 40 people, the previous week.
Sarah Crofts, ONS head of analytical outputs for the COVID-19 infection survey, said: “Across the UK we’ve seen a continued increase of over half a million infections, likely caused by the growth of BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
“This rise is seen across 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.”
