Wales now has more Covid cases per head than England as infection rates continue to rise. The latest infection survey from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that an estimated 149,700 people - around one in 20 (4.93%) - in Wales had the virus between June 24 and June 30.
That is an increase on the one in 30 reported the week before and way up on the one in 75 the week ending June 2. In England one in 25 were estimated to have the virus in the latest reporting week, in Northern Ireland it was one in 19 and one in 17 in Scotland. The ONS said the increase in cases is likely caused by the more transmittable BA.4 and BA.5 strains of Omicron.
In the UK as a whole, 2.7 million people in private households were estimated to have had Covid-19 last week, up 18% from 2.3 million the previous week. That is the highest estimate since late April but is still below the record high of 4.9 million which was reached at the end of March.
