Covid: Leading scientists warn country will be hit by new wave this month

‘We will have a new wave of infections this month’, says Professor Christina Pagel

The Independent Sage group was told there are four variants of Omicron ‘all increasing rapidly’ (Victoria Jones/PA)

Britain will see a new wave of Covid infections this month, leading scientists have warned.

Professor Christina Pagel, from University College London, told the Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies: “We will have a new wave of infections this month. Now hopefully it won't be as high as the previous two waves and might be lower. But we can't count on that and either way we are going to see more people becoming infected.”

Professor Pagel said currently there were four variants of Omicron “all increasing rapidly”, whereas the previous wave in March had two variants.

She added: “It's not a surprise that we have a new wave we can see in the data. What's happened is that people don't want to look, and we're kind of closing our eyes to it.

“This is now our third wave in six months. So we had kind of six months of Delta, we're now every two months of Omicron. The Omicron children are better than Omicron successively – that didn't happen with Delta.”

The Independent Sage scientist said it was “not a great circumstance” that this new wave has hit just as the Jubilee weekend occurred, with increased community mixing.

The news comes as the Office for National Statistics revealed Covid infections in the community were showing signs of being on the increase following two months of decline.

At the same time, Covid admissions in England are rising again, with the latest data showing 4,262 patients in hospital with Covid as of 10 June, compared to 3,800 on 3 June.

On 1 June the NHS sent out letters to hospitals and GP practices setting out new infection control measures which included the dropping of the requirement for patients to wear masks.

During the Independent Sage meeting Dr Helen Salisbury said the move was “disappointing” and there was not a good reason for it.

On Thursday Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, consultant epidemiologist for immunisation and countermeasures at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “Covid-19 case rates continue to decline, but it remains important to get vaccinated to reduce the risk of serious illness. If you’ve yet to take up the offer of a vaccine or have missed your latest jab please come forward now.

“Recent data has shown a small rise in positivity rates and in hospitalisations with Covid-19. These small increases should be interpreted with caution as data may be subject to delays due to the jubilee bank holiday.”

Earlier this week John Roberts, member of the Covid-19 Actuaries Group, told The Independent there would be a rise in admissions and a new wave.