A Covid expert has warned that a new Covid wave has already hit the country and that reduced testing means the UK is "blind" to new variants. This drop in testing, paired with inadequate surveillance of new immune-evasive subvariants, could lead to a "devastating" spike in cases in the colder months.
According to the latest data, the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus rose in England for the week ending September 17, meaning around one in 65 people had the virus. Around 1.1 million people in private households tested positive for Covid in the latest UK survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which covers the seven days to September 17 in England and the week to September 30 in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
This is the first time the UK total has been above one million since late August. However, it is still much less than the 3.8 million weekly infections in early July, marked as the peak of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 wave. reports MirrorOnline.
