There have been 'early signs of possible rising coronavirus infections', according to new data published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Infections across England have risen with hospital admissions expected to follow the trend in a matter of days.
The rise in infections follows an increase in infections 'compatible with some Omicron variants', said the ONS today (June 10). The estimated percentage of the community population (those not in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings) that had Covid-19 in the week leading up to June 2, the most recent data available, was 797,500 or 1 in 70 people in England.
The percentage of people testing positive increased in the North West, South East and London, and there were early signs of an increase in the East of England, in the latest week (ending 2 June 2022). The percentage of people testing positive decreased in the West Midlands and South West.
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However, Greater Manchester public health chiefs have long highlighted the difficulties in judging coronavirus trends now free mass testing is no longer available. As tests have to be paid for and are not mandatory, far fewer people will be likely to test and report their results, leaving a lack of accurate data.
Hospital admissions and coronavirus deaths can still be used to track coronavirus trends. Although, there can be a time lag in between the infection itself and the hospitalisation and/or death from the virus, meaning those figures do not give a contemporary picture of the current infection rate.
Greater Manchester health sources have indicated to the Manchester Evening News that the next wave is likely to be expected around September, when children return to school. But large scale social events, such as the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend, will have an impact on the number of cases as it increases the chance of the virus spreading.
Trends in hospital admission rates varied across age groups in the latest week (ending 5 June 2022), says the ONS. Rates increased in those aged 45 to 54 years, 65 to 74 years and 85 years and over, and remained similar or decreased slightly across all other age groups. The largest increase was for those aged 85 years and over where rates remained highest. Admission rates were lowest for those aged five to 14 years.
According to the latest government data, which covers June 5, there are 4,990 patients currently in hospital with coronavirus. In the North West, the number of admissions fell over the Bank Holiday weekend and has now started creeping back up.
On May 31, new admissions in the region stood at 86. The fell into the 50s in the following days, before rising to 93 on June 6, 77 on June 7 and 104 on June 8. The rolling sum of admissions in the region is currently 525, the highest since mid-May.
The ONS adds in its latest update: "Overall hospital admissions of COVID-19-confirmed patients remained similar to the previous week at 4.69 per 100,000 people, and ICU and HDU admissions remained very low at 0.19 per 100,000 people in the latest week (ending 5 June 2022). ICU and HDU admissions remain around their lowest level since June 2021.
"Infection levels in the latest week are similar to the week ending December 23 2020, shortly before the Alpha variant peak. In that week, the overall hospital admission rate was over four times higher (21.47 per 100,000 people) and the ICU and HDU admission rate was over seven times higher (1.41 per 100,000 people, week ending 27 December 2020) than in the latest week."
The number of deaths involving COVID-19 decreased in groups aged 55 years and over. Deaths increased slightly in groups aged 25 to 54 years and remained similar in groups aged under 25 years (ending 27 May 2022). Deaths were highest in those aged 85 years and over (178 deaths) and lowest in groups aged under 25 years, where there were none.
There were 455 deaths involving COVID-19 registered in Great Britain in the week ending 27 May 2022. This is a decrease from 600 deaths in the previous week (ending May 20 2022). Of these, 377 were registered in England, 33 in Wales and 45 in Scotland.
The number of coronavirus deaths in the North West for the week ending May 27 was 52. There has been a handful of Covid-19 deaths each day for the last week in the region, apart from on June 9 when the number was 0. Cumulatively, 24,978 people have died from coronavirus in the North West.
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