Yahoo News New Covid variant triggers rise in cases as hospital admissions surge by 24%
A fresh surge in Covid cases has sparked concerns as hospitalisations have seen a 24% increase in the latest week. This rise in cases comes amid the emergence of a new variant and diminishing immunity in individuals who haven't received a Covid booster shot for an extended period.
In England, admissions to hospitals with Covid have escalated from 2.67 to 3.31 people per 100,000 in the week leading up to Sunday, as reported by the UK Health Security Agency.
The UKHSA has also noted a 19% rise in the rate of positive test results over the week. Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, warned the i newspaper: "This is a wake up call. The virus hasn't gone away and is certainly not a seasonal infection."
He added: "A combination of new, more infectious virus variants and waning immunity is very likely contributing to these increased levels of infection. The hope is that this will not result in a big wave of infection but we need to keep a close watch."
Driving this new wave is the Covid variant known as KP. 3, which has seen its reported infections double to 44% in less than a fortnight.
Professor Christina Pagel from University College London shared her insights with the i newspaper, stating: "I don't know whether the KP.3 wave will be bigger than the KP.2 May wave, but I am pretty sure that it will cause another wave making this summer a more Covid-prevalent summer than last year where June and July were very quiet months."
Professor Steve Griffin, from Leeds University, commented: "It certainly looks as though yet another Covid wave is building. If the rise in hospitalisations continues, this is obviously worrying."
Independent Sage group analyst Bob Hawkins noted: "We are definitely in a wave. This wave will be larger than the May wave."
