Covid UK: 4.9 million people infected with virus last week, as figures hit new record high

In England, one in 13 people caught the virus last week

(Getty Images)

Covid infection levels in the UK have reached record highs for the pandemic, according to new nationwide figures.

Estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 4.9 million people in the UK were infected with Covid-19 between 20 and 26 March, up from 4.3 million in the previous week.

In England, a record-breaking one in 13 people, or 7.5 per cent of the population, caught the virus last week, the ONS said. One in 14 people in Wales were infected over the same period. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, this figure stands at 1 in 12 and 1 in 15 respectively.

The figures come as free mass testing is ended for the vast majority of people in England, a move that has drawn criticism from scientists and campaign groups.

Kara Steel, senior statistician for the ONS Covid-19 infection survey, said: “Infection levels remain high, with the highest levels recorded in our survey seen in England and Wales and notable increases among older age groups.

“The rapid rise continues to be fuelled by the growth of the Omicron BA.2 variant across the UK.”

While Covid prevalence has reached record highs in England and Wales, Scotland has seen its first week-on-week drop in infections after eight successive increases, though the ONS described the latest trend as “uncertain”.

In Scotland last week 451,200 people were estimated to have had the virus, down from 473,800 in the week before.

In Northern Ireland the trend is also described as “uncertain”, with 123,000 people estimated to have had Covid-19 last week, up from 108,700.

Professor Tim Spector from King’s College London, who runs the Zoe Covid tracking app, said the timing of the end of free testing “couldn’t really be worse”.

He said England was now in a situation of “having to rely on the public to actually do the right thing and get these tests themselves when they get sick”.

He told Times Radio: “If we’re not having free testing, let’s have a clear policy on how you would know that you’re infected, and therefore you can self-isolate.

“To do that, the government needs to admit that the symptoms of Covid have changed in the past two years, and that 80 per cent of people now present with cold-like symptoms.

“And there should be a public health campaign to say at the moment, when your chances of having Covid are greater than a cold … test if you can afford it – [and] even if you can’t – assume you’ve got Covid.”