People in Wales will no longer be legally required to wear face coverings in health and social care services from Monday (Andrew Milligan/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Covid cases in the UK are approaching record levels and “may exceed 300,000” a day, a leading study has warned.
According to the Zoe Health Study, there are currently 285,507 daily symptomatic cases of Covid in the country - the previous high was approximately 350,000 in late March.
That is an increase of 27 per cent from the previous week when there were 225,464.
The latest Covid wave is being driven by the omicron BA.5 variant which is now dominant in the UK.
Professor Tim Spector said cases are expected to rise even further over the next week.
He said the BA.5 variant was “particularly good at immune escape, causing an increase in reinfections in people in spite of vaccines and natural immunity”.
“With the large numbers of festivals happening, I predict rates will continue to rise for the next week or so.”
Although cases are rising, symptoms for the latest strain appear to be more mild with fewer deaths than previous waves.
According to the latest data, published on June 30, the 0-17 age group is experiencing the highest number of cases with 550 per 100,000.
The 18-34 and 35-54 age groups have also seen a steady increase over the last month with both recording more than 400 cases per 100,00.
The over-75s and 55-74 age group are reporting just over 200 and approximately 330 respectively.
The BA.4 and BA.5 strains were designated as variants of concern in the UK on May 6, by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
Both strains now account for 61 per cent of all Covid cases, the UKHSA reported on June 24.
