Covid expert Tim Spector has issued a warning as cases of the virus are on the rise again.
In a video, the Professor, who founded the ZOE Covid Study app, said now around one in 44 people in the UK has covid. There are more than 112,000 new cases each day.
Prof Spector said BA.5 is now the dominant variant. The most common symptoms of this strain are a sore throat - with around two thirds of people infected experiencing this - as well as headaches, a blocked or runny nose, and a dry cough.
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The professor also said one in 36 young people (aged 0-17) have the virus, with this age group having seen the biggest rise in cases.
Prof Spector said: "Some of this might have been festivals, or meeting up over summer. We haven't yet seen the impact of back to school, we'll be seeing that a couple of weeks' time.
He later added: "We're seeing covid cases starting to increase again, and this trend is likely to continue particularly with kids back at school."
He also said the R rate is now currently "hanging around" 1.0 but will likely move to 1.1 very quickly. The professor is reminding people that the next booster campaign will soon begin, and urged those who are invited for another jab to take up the offer.
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