COVID cases: Infections leap to six-month high after Christmas as one in 20 test positive in England | UK News
Nearly three million people across the UK tested positive for COVID at the end of December, the highest number since July.
The surge in infections comes as the UK faces its worst flu season in a decade and long queues outside A&Es due to delays in ambulance deliveries.
The Office for National Statistics says one in 20 people in the UK is likely to contract COVID over the Christmas period, with one in 18 infected in Wales and one in 25 testing positive. in Scotland.
In Northern Ireland, an estimated one in 16 people contracted COVID during the festive season, a nine-month high.
COVID mortality remains low due to widespread immunity and high levels of vaccination, although excessive death in the run-up to Christmas 1/5 higher than the 5-year average.
No new variant is believed to have driven the rise in infections, with experts pointing to increased social inclusion in the home around Christmas.
Omicron’s XBB.1.5 sub-variant is responsible for only one in 200 COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom, although it has become widespread in parts of the US.
ONS head of health monitoring Michelle Bowen said the spike in positive tests was largely visible in primary school-aged children and those over 50.
She said: “Across parts of England, infections have increased in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, East England, South East and South West.
“Cases have also increased in people aged two to six years and those aged 50 and over.”
Read more:
New wave of strikes – who is acting and when
What is the XBB.1.5 variant and what is behind the ‘kraken’ moniker?
Cases peaked last winter at 4.3 million during the peak of Omicron’s spread.
The number of infections then hit a record 4.9 million on April 1 last year.
Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, says there is “no evidence” that XBB.1.5 is more dangerous than previous variants.
“It can get rid of the antibodies, but that’s not the only immunity we have,” he said.
“Our immune system is used to adapting to viruses.
“We should be familiar with the emergence of new variants, at least in the near future.
“Yes, they will lead to new waves of infections, but vaccination is still proving to be a very effective weapon to protect the most vulnerable from serious illness.”
NHS data shows the number of patients in general hospital beds in England rose to 5,105 last week, up by almost half from the previous week.
The number of flu hospitalizations was at a decade high in the days leading up to Christmas, though the rate has since declined.
Ambulance delivery delays also caused record wait times outside of A&E.
Before Christmas, more than a quarter of patients waited for an ambulance outside the hospital for more than an hour, and four in ten waited at least half an hour.
