Cases of COVID-19 continued to rise across the UK, latest official figures showed.
The rise in the percentage of people testing positive for COVID was most likely caused by infections compatible with the Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
The figures published were for the week ending June 18 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and the week ending June 17 in Scotland.
The infection survey data suggested that around 1.74 million people were estimated to have COVID during this 7-day period – an increase of 22.9% on the previous week.
By UK nation, the ONS analysis suggested that:
- In England, an estimated 1.36 million people would have tested positive for COVID (2.5% of the population)
- In Wales, an estimated 38,500 would have tested positive (2.25%)
- In Northern Ireland, the estimated number of people testing positive was 59,900 (3.26%)
- In Scotland, the estimated number of people testing positive was 250,700 (4.76% of the population
New Omicron Variants 'Dominant'
In a technical briefing released on Friday June 24, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said variants BA.4 and BA.5 were now dominant, with updated modelling demonstrating that both had a growth advantage over the BA.2 variant of Omicron.
It estimated that 39.5% of cases were currently BA.5 and 22.3% were BA.4.
The Agency said BA.5 was likely to become the dominant variant in the UK because of its relative growth advantage over BA.4. Analysis suggested that Omicron BA.5 was growing 35.1% faster than predecessor Omicron BA.2, while Omicron BA.4 was growing approximately 19.2% faster.
The UKHSA stressed that there was no evidence that Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 caused more severe illness than previous variants of SARS-CoV-2. Dr Susan Hopkins, the UKHSA's chief medical advisor, said: "It is clear that the increasing prevalence of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 are significantly increasing the case numbers we have observed in recent weeks.
"We have seen a rise in hospital admissions in line with community infections, but vaccinations are continuing to keep ICU admissions and deaths at low levels."
UK 'Has Entered Third Wave'
Dr Stephen Griffin, associate professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, said it was apparent that the UK had entered a 'third wave' of COVID-19 infections this year.
He told the Science Media Centre that re-infections had "dramatically increased", with prevalence "increasing across all ages". It highlighted "the ability of these viruses to evade antibody immunity", and that "the rapidity with which they are causing waves across the globe is concerning".
Dr Griffin added: "The ONS is an excellent means of assessing the COVID situation across the UK as the survey is independent of testing bias – the notion that this might be scaled back following other methods of surveillance is both short-sighted and negligent."
Lead Image Credit: Moment/Getty Images
