New cases of COVID-19 in Britain jumped by 23 percent in just one week, the Office for National Statistics reported on Friday.
During the week ending June 18, the office said, about 1,740,000 new cases were discovered across the country, up from more than 1.4 million cases in the previous week.
The office’s study showed that one in 40 people in England had Covid-19, compared to one in 20 in Scotland, one in 30 in Northern Ireland and one in 45 in Wales.
Regionally, London recorded the highest infection rate in England with 2.9 percent, followed by North West England with 2.6 percent.
“The PA4 and PA5 sub-variants of Omicron are causing another wave of infections, the third we have already this year,” Stephen Griffin, associate professor at the University of Leeds Medical School, told Tribunal Community.
The virologist reported that “the rate of re-infection with these two variants is increasing dramatically, and the rate of the outbreak is increasing at all ages.
This highlights the ability of these viruses to evade antibody immunity, and the speed with which they cause waves of infection worldwide is worrisome.”
“We are still in a situation where even the Office for National Statistics is told by the government that protection is not necessary.
It is certainly a self-destructive attitude to a service that is already understaffed and under-resourced.
In an updated technical briefing on Friday, the NHS said the PA4 and PA.5 sub-variables from Omicron now account for more than half of new Covid-19 cases in England, which represents about 22 per cent and 39 percent of cases.
