Daily UK Covid cases surge by 47% with ‘worrying’ increase among vulnerable and elderly

The UK has seen a 47 per cent week-on-week increase in new coronavirus cases, figures suggest – with an average of 258,155 new symptomatic infections reported each day.

The level of infections is the highest ever recorded in the UK by the ZOE Covid study, which reported a “worryingly high” increase among the elderly and clinically vulnerable.

Warning of the rising case levels, Professor Tim Spector, lead scientist on the study, said: “Even more concerning is the rise in new cases in people aged over 75. This vulnerable group have had low case numbers for months.

“We will need to wait a few weeks to see the full impact on increased hospitalisation but numbers have already started to rise. The data shows this pandemic is definitely not over yet and is more unpredictable than ever, despite government messages to the contrary and a lack of public health advice.”

While, according to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data, Covid cases had been falling in every local authority in England as the government moved to axe all remaining restrictions last month, ZOE figures suggest that new daily symptomatic cases are now rising in all regions of England – and across all age groups.

On average, one in 24 people in the UK currently have symptomatic Covid-19, according to the study, while the country’s R value is estimated to be around 1.2.

The community monitoring study’s figures – viewed widely as providing one of the clearest pictures of infection prevalence in the UK – are based on reports from around 840,000 weekly contributors and the proportion of newly symptomatic users who have received positive test results.

The latest survey figures were based on data from 54,409 recent swab tests on symptomatic individuals in the fortnight to Monday.

UKHSA figures show that, in the past seven days, 516,289 people have tested positive for the virus, while 744 people have died within 28 days of a positive test.

Meanwhile, Covid-related staff absences across the health service are again on the rise, with 123,055 staff off sick as a result last week – a rise of nearly 20,000 from the previous week, according to NHS data.

While this figure is the highest in more than a month, it remains significantly below the level reached at the peak of the Omicron wave in early January.

The number of patients remaining in hospitals who should be discharged is also high, with NHS leaders telling The Independent that they are struggling to discharge patients into care homes.

According to the most recent official data, 11,047 people were admitted to hospital with coronavirus in the week to Saturday – a weekly increase of nearly 21 per cent, although the proportion admitted because of coronavirus symptoms is unclear.

As of Tuesday, there were 281 coronavirus patients in hospital beds with a mechanical ventilator.

On Wednesday evening, health secretary Sajid Javid told ITV that the government is on target to begin rolling out fourth vaccine jabs to the over 75s at the beginning of April – adding that the offer “will at some point” be widened out to other groups.

Infections and hospitalisations have been rising throughout March, following the scaling back of testing and removal of mandated self-isolation at the end of February, as part of the government’s plans for “living with Covid”.

Experts have warned that the absence of restrictions has made it more difficult to properly track the country’s epidemic and understand why this is the case.