Covid infections down again to one in 50, says ONS

Covid infections have fallen again to one in 50 people in the UK, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

That means around 1.27 million people had coronavirus in the week to 13 May – down 14% from the week before.

Infections have been coming down steeply since the end of March, after the Omicron variant pushed up cases.

Over-65s and health and care staff are among groups to be offered a vaccine in the autumn to top up protection.

Clinically vulnerable adults aged 16 to 64 will also be offered a Covid jab ahead of the winter, when the virus could spread more widely.

A form of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, called BA.2, is the most common cause of Covid, but two others – BA.4 and BA.5 – have now been named ‘variants of concern’ by UK health officials.

“They are likely to have a growth advantage over BA.2,” says the UK Health Security Agency in its latest report on variants.

However, it cautions that this is based on a small number of cases, and there is still a lot of uncertainty.

BA.4 and BA.5 are currently causing another Covid wave in South Africa. In the UK, levels are very low.