According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, the cases of Covid-19 are rising again in the U.K., just as the government lifts its remaining travel restrictions.
According to the ONS figures, close to 1 in 21 people in the U.K. tested positive for the coronaviruses in the week of March 12.
Around 2.1 million people are thought to have been affected by Covid-19 in England alone. It was up from an estimated 3.8% of England's population.
Hospitalizations linked to the virus were up in England last week, to 13 per 100,000 people, from 11 per 100,000 the previous week.
The U.K. lifted its Covid travel restrictions. People entering the U.K. are no longer required to take a test for the virus or fill out a passenger locator form.
The number of omicron BA.1 subvariant infections decreased last week in England, Scotland and Wales, according to the ONS.
The stealth variant of the BA.2 has genetic quirks that make it harder to distinguish it from the original variant.
The rise in cases across Europe is being attributed to the BA.2 subvariant.
Cases were rising across the U.K., with Scotland estimated to have had around 7% of its population testing positive for Covid last week, up from 5.7% the week prior.
The case rate in Wales was estimated to have gone up from 3.2% to 4.1%.
The percentage of cases in Northern Ireland had increased in the two weeks up to March 12 but the trend was uncertain in the most recent week.
There were 814 deaths linked to Covid-19 in the last week, down from 879 in the previous week.
China is dealing with its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the initial phase of the Pandemic.
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