Why are COVID cases rising - and should we be worried?
For many of us it was feeling like this summer might be the one where we could forget about COVID - at least for a while.certainly isn't a reason to put down the ice cream and start panicking.
But it is, perhaps, a reminder of what the experts told us all along: that COVID would continue to evolve and while the worst of it is most likely to be over, it will never be gone for good. The latest rise in cases in today's ONS figures is very modest compared to the surges in the Delta and Omicron waves. But like those, it could be partly driven by new sub-variants of the virus.
Most cases are now caused by the BA.2 variant of Omicron. But the ONS survey data also points to two closely related viruses, BA.4 and BA.5 rising in number as BA.2 infections fall.There's some evidence, like previous variants, that minor genetic changes in these viruses allow them to avoid some of our immunity to COVID - giving them a modest advantage.
There's a very slight upward trend in hospital admissions too. But no evidence of an increase in severe illness with COVID.
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