Total Covid-19 infections in the UK have risen in the past week (Stock image)
(Picture: PA Wire)The number of Covid cases has risen by 14 per cent in a week, according to the Office for National Statistics, in a sign that the autumn wave of infection is underway.
More than 1.1 million people in the UK tested positive for the virus in the week ending September 20, up from 927,000 in the previous week.
While infections are continuing to rise in England and Wales, the trend remains uncertain in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the ONS said.
In the capital, an estimated 1.79 per cent of the population was estimated to be infected in the week ending September 17 - the highest proportion in a month.
This remains lower than the North East (1.86 per cent), the South East (1.88 per cent) the North West (1.83 per cent) and the West Midlands (1.93 per cent). The South West has the lowest infection rate, on 1.45 per cent.
An estimated one in 65 people in England tested positive during the period, rising to 1 in 50 in Wales.
Infections increased in London, the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands, the East of England and the South East, according to the ONS.
Separate figures released on Wednesday showed the number of hospital patients in London with the virus had risen by 15 per cent in a week.
A total of 992 people in the capital were in hospital with Covid as of 8am on September 28, a jump on the figure of 862 reported the week before.
The number of occupied beds remains far below the peak of 7,917 recorded on January 18, 2021. It is also below the highest figure recorded this year so far of 4,074, on January 5.
Professor Kevin Fenton, the capital’s regional director of public health, on Tuesday called on those eligible for a flu and Covid autumn booster jab to come forward.
He told the Standard: “London has experienced challenging winters in the face of respiratory viruses like Covid-19 and flu, and this winter will be the first without social restrictions and both viruses circulating.
“Co-infection of both Covid-19 and flu is dangerous, especially for those at increased risk of serious illness, and we’re already seeing early signals that Covid-19 could be on the rise again.
“Fortunately, we have two freely available vaccines to help protect ourselves from becoming seriously unwell this winter – the Covid-19 booster and the flu jab. If you are eligible for either of these vaccines, please take it up as soon as you are able.”
Recent data from the ZOE Health Study, which is based on symptoms reported by volunteers across the country, suggests that an average of one in 32 people in the UK were likely to have symptomatic Covid-19 at the start of this week, with rates rising in all age groups.
