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The Covid infection rate has been waxing and waning since the late summer in what experts interpret as a sign that the end of the epidemic in Britain is in sight.
As this fascinating graph shows, rates have been swinging like a pendulum this autumn, with a few weeks of rise in the figures being typically followed by a few weeks of contraction.
When a bar in the graph is above the line, it shows that daily Covid cases are growing. When it dips below the line, daily cases are reducing.
As this fascinating graph shows, rates have been swinging like a pendulum this autumn, with a few weeks of rise in the figures being typically followed by a few weeks of contraction
Government adviser Paul Hunter, an expert on infectious diseases at the University of East Anglia, says such swinging to and fro indicates that Covid is starting to become ‘endemic’ in Britain.
Reaching the endemic state is generally regarded as good news, as it means the most dangerous ‘epidemic’ stage is over.
Prof Hunter said: ‘We would not be seeing this pattern of rises and falls if the infection was not getting close to what’s called the endemic equilibrium.’
He explained: ‘Early on in an epidemic, there are lots of people susceptible [to the new virus], so you have to do something pretty
