Covid-19 infections are continuing to rise in England and have reached their highest level for three months, but the trend in the rest of the UK is uncertain, figures show. Hospital numbers also appear to have stopped climbing, though it is too early to say if the latest wave of the virus is starting to peak, experts have cautioned.
It comes as a new survey suggests public concern about Covid-19 has dropped to its lowest level since the pandemic began. A total of 3.8 million people in private households in the UK are estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to July 13/14, up 7% from 3.5 million the previous seven days, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is the highest estimate for total infections since mid-April, but is still below the record high of 4.9 million seen at the peak of Omicron BA.2 wave at the end of March. Kara Steel, ONS senior statistician for the Covid-19 infection survey, said: “Infections have, overall, continued to increase in England, reaching similar levels to those seen in April during the BA.2 wave.
