Friday 24 June 2022 12:33 PM Covid's comeback sees outbreak grow by a fifth as admissions hit 1,000 for ... trends now
The UK's Covid outbreak has grown for the second week in a row but there are already signs the uptick is slowing.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows 1.3million people in England were infected in the week to June 18, up by a fifth compared to seven days earlier.
Cases are also on the rise in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where positive tests jumped by up to 40 per cent in a week.
Sequencing data shows the resurgence is being driven by Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are thought to be even more infectious than earlier versions which saw cases reach pandemic highs in December and April.
Celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, half-term holidays and Caribbean-esque weather are also thought to be fuelling the latest surge.
But experts have confidence the upcoming wave will be no worse than other peaks seen this year. And they do not expect a sharp increase in hospitalisations.
NHS England data shows daily Covid admissions breached 1,000 this week for the first time in two months. But only a third of patients were primarily admitted because they were unwell due to the virus.
Speaking this morning before the latest figures were released, Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, England's former deputy chief medical officer, said there is 'nothing alarmist' in the rise.
While Covid admissions have risen in the past week they are still well behind figures from just a few months ago
The recently knighted Sir Jonathan said Britons need to make their own mind up about if a situation warranted wearing a mask (pictured wearing a mask in November last year)
Kara Steel, senior statistician for the Covid infection survey, said: 'Rates have continued to rise across the UK, with the largest increase seen in Scotland.
'In England, infections increased across all age groups, with the lowest level of infection seen in school aged children.
'These increases are largely driven by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants. We will continue to closely monitor the data.'
It comes as Sir Jonathan revealed he is no longer wearing a face mask.
The newly-knighted scientist also dismissed hysteria that a recent uptick in Covid cases marks a new wave of the pandemic, saying Britain has to learn to live the virus.
Sir Jonathan's comments come after Covid infections jumped 40 per cent over the past fortnight in England and there has been a slight uptick in hospital admissions.
The outbreak fuelled by the spread of two new Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are more infectious but just as mild as the parent strain.
It has prompted left-leaning scientists to call for a return of mask-wearing and for Britons to only meet outside because of the uptick in infections
But Sir Jonathan told the BBC Today programme there was nothing alarmist about these figures and revealed he has stopped wearing a mask in the vast majority of settings.
'I don't wear a face covering,' he said.
The former deputy chief medical officer added he would now only wear a mask if he felt the environment was particularly risky for Covid, and that this was something other people should consider as well.
'But if there were circumstances where I felt it was a really closed environment with very high crowding and very intense social interaction then those are the situations where I might think 'should I or shouldn't I?',' he said.
'I think people have got to learn to frame those risks for themselves.'
Asked about the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which estimated about 2 per cent were infected with Covid in the week to June 11, Sir Johnathan said the current data showed there was no reason to panic.
He said: 'It is an uptick but it is really very small still in relation to the kind of peaks that we saw in January and April. The hospitalisation signal most importantly is very small indeed. At the moment there is nothing alarmist in these figures.'
Members of Independent SAGE, a pressure group that previously called for a zero-Covid policy, last week called for a return to wearing masks indoors and meeting outdoors in response to rising Covid rates.
But Sir Jonathan said it is hospitalisation, intensive care admissions, and deaths, are the true metric of if the Covid situation warrants further concern and added these remain good.
Daily Covid hospital admissions in England surpassed 1,000 for the first time in months this week, which is still about half the level in spring, when cases soared to record highs.
And there are around 6,000 Covid inpatients now compared to 16,000 a few months ago.
'The data still show that although when cases go up hospitalisations go up the proportion of people requiring hospitalisation is way, way, way lower than when Covid first appeared on the scene,' Sir Jonathan said.
'That is because of vaccination and to a smaller extent acquired immunity as we've caught Covid in the interim.'
He added that the country had to learn to live with the virus similar to the other winter bugs it now resembled.
'We just accept that in the winter that if you've got seasonal flu and you're poorly for a few days it disrupts your life,' he said.
'We've got to start frame Covid a little more in those terms to be truthful.'
While fresh ONS data on Covid prevalence is due out today, the latest figures indicate one in 50 people in England were infected in the week to June 11, roughly 1.1million.
Some commentators have blamed Queen's
