Covid-19 positive test results are on the decline
(Picture: PA Archive)The latest wave of Covid-19 infections in the UK may have peaked - though rates still remain high, the Office for National Statistics has said.
In the week to July 20, 3.2m people in private households are estimated to have had Covid-19, a figure down 16 per cent from 3.8m in the previous week.
It is the first time in two months that total infections have shown a week-on-week fall.
It was reported on Thursday that admissions to intensive care units also dropped, while the overall number of patients testing positive for the virus now appears to be declining.
Covid-19 infection levels had been rising since the end of May as a result of an increase of BA.4 and BA.5 omicron sub variants.
The figures, which have been published by the UK Health Security Agency, show hospital admission rates are now dropping for all age groups, though the highest represented group is the elderly.
Numbers have also remained well below the peak reached during the alpha wave of infections in January 2021, when more than 34,000 patients with Covid-19 were in hospital.
The news comes as an immunologist has warned a new strain of Covid-19 could be causing different symptoms. BA.5 is said to cause night sweats in patients and the varient is now becoming more prevalent in Europe.
