A member of NHS Test and Trace collects a sample from a member of the public at a Covid-19 testing site in Bournemouth (Andrew Matthews/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Covid reinfections currently make up around 10 per cent of daily infections, according to the latest official estimate.
The UK Health Security Agency (HSA) attributed the rise in reinfections over the festive period to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, which is capable of reinfecting those who have previously caught the alpha or delta strains.
It comes as the Government announced that reinfections in England and Northern Ireland would be included in the daily Covid figures for the first time, with data for Scotland and Wales to be added in the near future.
The change means that the total number of daily cases will now be higher than before. Around 92,368 further cases were reported on Monday - a steep rise on Sunday’s toll.
A reinfection is defined as someone who tests positive for Covid more than 90 days after a previous positive result.
With reinfections added to the tally, the cumulative number of UK cases since the pandemic has jumped from 16.5 million as of January 30 to 17.3 million as of January 31.
Of the 108,882 cases in England with a specimen date of January 24, more than 11,000 (10.3 per cent) of infection episodes were categorised as likely reinfections.
The UKHSA said: “As the pandemic continues and more variants emerge, it is more likely that people will be reinfected with Covid-19.
“UK public health agencies are now updating surveillance data to count infection episodes, including reinfection episodes.
“It is right that our daily reporting processes reflect how the virus has changed.”
Professor Steven Riley, director general of data and analytics at the UKHSA, said that reinfection had remained at a “low level until the start of the Omicron wave”.
The Office for National Statistics weekly infection survey remains the most reliable estimate of the number of Covid cases per day.
For example, an average of 154,500 cases by specimen date were recorded each day in England from January 2 to 8 according to the Government dashboard, including possible reinfections.
But the true number was likely to be nearer 311,500 a day, according to the ONS.
