ITV News correspondent Sangita Lal explores how the rise in Covid cases is affecting business and speaks to an expert amid fears of an autumn outbreak of the virus Covid-19 infections in the UK have risen by more than half a million in a week, with the increase likely due to Omicron’s latest BA.4 and BA.5 variants, figures show. Hospital numbers also continue to rise, with early signs of an increase in intensive care admissions in older age groups. A total of 2.3 million people in private households are estimated to have had the virus last week, a 32% increase on the previous week, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is the highest estimate for total infections since late April, but is still well below the record high of 4.9 million seen at the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave in late March. Sarah Crofts, ONS head of analytical results for Covid-19 infection research, said: “Across the UK we have seen a sustained increase of over half a million infections, likely caused by the development of BA.4 variants and BA.5. “This rise is seen across all ages, countries and regions of England. “We will continue to monitor the data closely to see if this growth continues in the coming weeks.” The virus remains most prevalent in Scotland, where 288,200 people were estimated to have had Covid-19 last week, or one in 18. This is up weekly from 250,700, or one in 20, and is the highest estimate for Scotland since early April. In England, 1.8 million people were likely to have the virus last week, equivalent to about one in 30. This is up from 1.4 million, or one in 40, the previous week. Wales has seen infections rise to 106,000, or one in 30, from 68,500, or one in 45. In Northern Ireland, infections have risen to around 71,000 people, or one in 25, from 59,900, or one in 30.
