The number of COVID-19 cases has increased by almost half in a week, according to official data.
Last week, approximately 1,415,600 people had coronavirus in the United Kingdom, an increase of 425,800 or 43%.
This is the highest estimate for infections since early May, but is still well below the record 4.9 million at the end of March.
The incidence has increased in all four nations in the United Kingdom – and has increased in all age groups.
In England, about one in 50 people had the virus, according to a study of coronavirus infection by the Office for National Statistics.
In Wales and Northern Ireland, one in 45 was positive, and in Scotland, one in 30 had the virus.
The increase was probably caused by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
Omicron BA.1 is the original variant of Omicron, in which infections increased in the United Kingdom in December and early January this year – followed by a second wave caused by sub-variant BA.2 around March.
While BA.2 still represents the majority of infections in the UK, the outbreak of BA.4 and BA.5 in May is actually another wave.
Newer options, BA.4 and BA.5, have recently been classified as ‘worrying options’ by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
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Initial research has shown that variants BA.4 and BA.5 have a degree of “immune escape” – meaning that the immune system can no longer recognize or fight the virus.
This is likely to contribute to their dominance over BA.2, according to UKHSA.
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