Covid-19 is largely on the rise across the UK in spite of a successful booster programme and a lull in cases that was experienced post Christmas. Its resurgence is largely driven by the Omicron BA.2 variant, a more transmissible form of Omicron, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Their weekly study found that one in 16 people estimated to have had the virus in the week up to March 19 - up from one in 20 the previous week. This compares to around one in 11 in Scotland, which has seen record infection levels for eight weeks in a row, and one in 17 in Northern Ireland - where infections have fallen slightly from around one in 14 people last week. Wales has a similar level of Covid infection as England, with one in 16 people also likely to have the virus in the country.
Across the UK as a whole, 4.26 million people were likely to have had coronavirus last week - just short of the 4.30 million in the first week of 2022, which was the highest total since estimates began.
The Standard revealed on Friday that the number of Covid cases being diagnosed in London has increased by 28 per cent in a week.
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