Coronavirus cases in the over-70s have risen slightly in the last week, as two new mutant variants have been discovered in the UK.
More than 1,590,000 people, equivalent to one in 35, tested positive in England in the last week, the latest figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed.
The figures for Scotland are also equivalent to one in 35 with 141,400 positive cases.
In Wales, one in 40 people (77,500 cases) have the infection, and in Northern Ireland one in 30 (61,200 cases) have Covid.
The government data, released today, showed infections to the week ending Monday, October 24.
In that week, slight increases were seen in children aged two years to primary school Year Six (a rise of 0.3 per cent) and those aged 70 years and over (a rise of 0.1 per cent).
In the same week, the percentage testing positive decreased in those in school Year 12 to aged 24 years (a fall of 0.6 per cent) and those aged 50 to 69 years (a fall of 0.7 per cent).
The news comes as health officials warned there were two new mutant strains of coronavirus emerging in the UK.
More than 700 cases of the BQ.1 variant have been logged across the country and a further 18 cases of the so-called "nightmare variant" XBB have also been recorded.
XBB spreads quickly and appeared to evade people's vaccine protection.
However, one expert questioned whether it was a "nightmare variant", and said it appears to be "no different from the other new strains".
It is believed the variant may be behind the recent spike in Covid cases in Singapore.
Neither of the Omicron strains BQ.1 or XBB have been listed as variants of concern by the UK Health Security Agency.
Dr Meera Chand, director of clinical and emerging infection at the UKHSA said: “It is not unexpected to see new variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge.
"Neither BQ.1 nor XBB have been designated as Variants of Concern and UKHSA is monitoring the situation closely, as always.
“Vaccination remains our best defence against future COVID-19 waves, so it is still as important as ever that people come take up all the doses for which they are eligible as soon as possible.”
Infectious disease expert John Swartzberg previously told the San Francisco Chronicle : “We are seeing a slew of new variants that are using a similar approach to survive — they are finding ways to evade the way we get immunity from vaccines and previous infection with changes on the spike protein.
“XBB is no different from the others.”
XBB was first found in India in August, and has since been found in Bangladesh, Japan, Singapore, and at least 13 more countries - including Australia and Denmark.
It has also been spotted in Hong Kong.
Singapore Ministry of Health said XBB went from being responsible for 22 per cent of cases, to being responsible for 54 per cent of cases within one week.
Almost 80 per cent of people in Singapore are fully vaccinated.
