The number of Covid-4 cases in the UK has risen by more than half a million in a week and is expected to rise further, boosted by the latest variants of omicron BA.5 and BA.XNUMX, British media reports.

The number of hospitalized patients continues to rise and there are early signs of an increase in the number of elderly people admitted to intensive care. A total of 2,3 million people in private households were estimated to have been infected with Covid last week, a 32 per cent increase on the previous week, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is the highest estimate of total infections since late April, but is still below the record high of 4,9 million recorded at the peak of the omicron BA.2 wave in late March.

"In Britain we are seeing a steady rise of over half a million infections, possibly caused by the spread of the BA.4 and BA.5 variants," said Sarah Crofts from the ONS.

"This increase was seen across all age groups, countries and English regions. We will continue to monitor the data closely to see if this growth continues in the coming weeks," she added.