Covid infections in the UK have jumped 31 per cent in 10 days, according to the latest data, with most of the country now seeing a steady increase in virus levels. Experts are warning that the rise is particularly notable among the elderly population.
Some 1.7 million people in private households across the UK are likely to have tested positive for coronavirus in the period September 23 to October 3, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is up from 1.3 million in the previous survey, which covered the period September 18 to 26.
Infection rates in England are highest among people aged 70 and over, with 3.7 per cent likely to have tested positive for coronavirus in the latest survey, or around one in 25, the ONS said. The total number of infections in the UK is the highest number since late July - but it is still below the 3.8 million weekly infections in early July, at the peak of the wave caused by the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants of the virus.
