While the number of people dying from Covid-19 remains low compared to previous peaks, infections are increasing in all four nations of the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The latest wave is led by the newer Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are more contagious than other strains and can evade immune protection created by vaccines or previous infections. There is “currently no evidence” that BA.4 and BA.5 cause more severe illness than older variants of the virus, according to the UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA), suggesting that the number of people dying or are in intensive care units is unlikely to reach the levels seen in the first year of the pandemic. However, the increasing prevalence of the virus is expected to put additional pressure on hospitals, which are already facing a record backlog of patients needing treatment, in addition to causing widespread staff absences and disruption across the UK. The virus was more prevalent in Scotland, with one in 18 people estimated to have had the virus in the week to June 24, according to the latest ONS calculations, which are based on nose and throat swabs from a representative sample of tens of thousands of people. . In England – where figures showed cases rising in every region – and Wales, one in 30 people were estimated to have had the virus that week, rising to one in 25 in Northern Ireland, the statistics office found. Modeled percentage of the population testing positive in the week to 24 June (ONS) But at a more local level, infection rate figures from the UK Health Safety Authority (UKHSA) – which are less accurate as they are based on people reporting their positive test results to the government – ​​paint a slightly different picture. According to the latest UKHSA figures, all but two of the 10 local authority areas with the highest number of infections per 100,000 people were in southern England – Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria and Broadland in Norfolk. Here are the areas with the highest and lowest infection rates per 100,000 people, according to UKHSA testing data, in the week to June 26: Local Authority | Number of cases | Infection rate (per 100,000 people) Highest Lower Additional report from PA