Rise in UK hospital Covid cases
Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 driving the increases
The number of patients being treated primarily for Covid19 in hospitals is consistently rising again for the first time since the start of April, figures show. Latest figures from NHS England show that as of June 14, there were 1641 patients being treated in hospitals, a figure that has been steadily growing since the start of the month.
Until this month, cases have been falling since April, reaching a low of 1175 at the end of May.
About 4800 patients with coronavirus were admitted to English hospitals in the last week, although nearly two-thirds were incidental cases.
Experts are now fearful that a new wave is under way after latest Office for National Statistics figures showed that community infections had jumped 50 per cent in a week with more than a million people infected in England.
Infections are back at levels seen at the start of May, but remain well below the record 4.9 million at the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave at the end of March.
About 1.4 million people in the UK had coronavirus last week, according to the latest ONS survey, up 43 per cent from around 930,000 the week before.
The increases are largely being caused by Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which are thought to be the most dominant in much of the UK.
BA.4 and BA.5 are newer strains of coronavirus that were recently classified as subvariants of concern, after analysis found both are more contagious than BA.2, and may escape immunity. The latest surveillance report from the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) also shows that suspected Covid outbreaks in care homes are rising again, with more than 100 incidents reported for the week ending June 12.
Dr Mary Ramsay, director of clinical programmes of the UKHSA, said: “After a period of low case rates, we are now seeing increases in outbreaks within care homes and in hospital cases among those aged 80 years and over. [We] are not seeing an increase in ICU admissions but we are monitoring data closely and assessing the possible impact of subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. As we enter summer, it’s still important to remember that Covid-19 has not gone away.”
Peking University showed in lab studies that both BA.4 and BA.5 are better at evading neutralising immunity from the blood plasma of both triple-jabbed individuals and those who had caught an original Omicron infection. Both subvariants emerged in South Africa and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control predicted a wave driven by them could cause a “significant overall increase” in cases across the continent “in the coming weeks and months”.
Some experts claim that jubilee weekend may be to blame for the spikes, with crowds in London and events taking place across the country.
Scientists are also concerned about a new subvariant, dubbed Delta plus, which has risen 10-fold in cases in a week.
Many countries are also experiencing a rise in cases with Israel considering bringing back indoor mask mandates. — Telegraph Group Ltd