Britain is currently witnessing a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections, experts have warned, as the daily number of cases has risen to 351,000, a 13% increase since early July.
Professor Tim Spector, the lead scientist behind the ZOE Covid app, said that one in 15 people in England now has the virus, and that cases are still rising in England but falling in Scotland and Wales.
“The new wave is just starting,” Professor Christina Bagel said during a recent conference of the Independent Scientific Advisory Committee on Emergencies (SAGE).
“We will have a new wave of infection this month. Now, I hope it’s not as loud as the previous two waves and maybe smaller. But we can’t count on that, anyway, we’re going to see more people getting infected.”
The situation first became apparent when a 43% increase in coronavirus cases was reported after a four-day holiday to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Other major summer gatherings such as Glastonbury, Notting Hill Carnival and Edinburgh Festival are feared to turn into super-broadcast events if proper precautions are not taken.
The increase is driven by Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 subtypes, which spread rapidly across the UK in December 2021 and January 2022, then gradually decline.
These latest incarnations were first discovered in South Africa in January and February respectively, and are Omicron’s grandchildren.
They have three mutations in their spike proteins that are feared to allow them to resume their attack on human lung cells.
This means they have more in common with the earlier alpha and delta types, and are more contagious but less lethal than Omicron, which targets upper respiratory tract tissue.
Potentially, these mutations allow subvariants to evade antibodies from previous infections or vaccinations and thus overcome immunity.
While the situation in the UK is worrying, prompting fears of a return to masks and social distancing or draconian measures, how are Covid case numbers in the rest of the world right now?
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the rate of Covid infections is increasing worldwide as a result of the two Omicron subtypes that the body has been monitoring since April.
WHO control panelIt reports case numbers for the past seven days, with France at the top of the global leaderboard with 901,988 new cases in the past week, followed by Italy with 717,506 and the US with 709,877.
Germany followed with 584,349, Brazil 384,079, Japan 323,783, Australia 256,950 and China 216,791.
Next are Spain with 155,431, South Korea (147,873), Mexico (122,237) and India (121,294).
Back in Britain, Professor Adam Finn, a member of the government’s Joint Committee on Immunization and Vaccines, has already called for a new round of booster vaccines to be available by September to combat waning immunity, more than six months after the outbreak. Big vaccination campaign before Christmas.
“Booster protection wears off, mainly against mild infections and after a while against serious infections. So it’s disappointing for all of us about these vaccines, which are so valuable in terms of infection,” he told BBC Radio 4. Today Monday’s show.
“But we need to provide reinforcements, especially for those who are at risk of becoming more seriously ill if they stay later in the year.”
