COVID-19 infections and hospital-setting cases have climbed across the United Kingdom this autumn as the XFG variant, widely nicknamed Stratus or 'American Covid', circulates alongside seasonal respiratory illnesses.
Surveillance data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on 8 October 2026 confirmed that hospital positivity rates across England rose to 9.1 per cent in the week ending 4 October, up from 7.9 per cent the preceding week, with hospital-detected infections increasing to 1,638, up from 1,328 the previous week.
