England has seen a surge in covid cases recently as a new wave of covid infections driven by Omicron subvariants emerges.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) up to June 2 indicates England and Northern Ireland are starting to see a rise in cases of Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. In data collected by the New York Times from Data for the UK Department for Health and Social Care, Public Health England and the Chief Medical Officer Directorate, it shows the infection rate is 31 per 100,000.
Infection levels are estimated to have risen in London, north-west England and south-east England, with early signs of an increase in eastern England. Rutland in the East Midlands appears to be have seen the biggest recent surge, reported The Mirror.
READ MORE: All areas of Liverpool City Region see rise in Covid infections
Experts worry these latest mutations may have evolved to infect lung tissue, as did the earliest forms of the virus, making them more dangerous. BA.4 and BA.5 - first detected in Africa in January and February - were designated as variants of concern in the UK on May 20. Though the bulk of infections appear to continue to be down to the dominant BA.2 variant.
The UK Health Security Agency is also monitoring BA.5.1 - an offshoot of BA.5 - and the BA.2.12.1 subvariant, which remains the dominant strain in the US. Some 797,500 people in private households in England were likely to test positive for Covid-19 in the week ending June 2, the equivalent of about one in 70, the ONS said.
This is up week on week from 784,100, which was also about one in 70. Wales has seen Covid-19 infections increase very slightly to 40,500 people, up from 39,600, though both estimates are equivalent to around one in 75 people and the ONS describes the trend here as "uncertain".
Immunity from the booster vaccines is waning in the majority of the population, with only over-75s and extremely vulnerable groups offered the spring dose. Meanwhile, infection from BA.1 or BA.2 may not protect against the newest variants.
Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, told the Guardian : “It looks as though these things are switching back to the more dangerous form of infection, so going lower down in the lung." In response to whether the virus is on the verge of turning into the common cold, he added: "It clearly isn’t, and there’s no pressure on it to do that, really."
Separate figures show the recent fall in the number of people in hospital with the virus may have come to a halt. Some 4,602 patients in England had Covid-19 on June 13, up 12% on the previous week, while in Wales the figure looks to have levelled off at around 250 to 260.
Patient numbers in both nations had previously been on a steady downwards trend since early April, following the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave. But they remain well below the levels reached in all previous waves of the virus.
Despite the rise in cases, the ONS figures show a 55% week-on-week drop in covid-related deaths in the seven days up to June 3, with 186 fatalities registered in that time mentioning the virus on the death certificate. It's the lowest number since July 2021.
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