Covid cases back over 1 million for first time in weeks – as new Omicron variant ‘runs rife’

COVID cases have crept above one million again in the UK, new data has revealed.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) found that cases have risen in the West Midlands, London and across the South of England.

It comes after health chiefs yesterday warned that a new variant could drive a surge in cases ahead of Christmas.

The BQ1 Omicron offshoot is now dominant and makes up 50.4 per cent of infections, compared to 39 per cent last week.

Professor Stephen Powis, medical director at NHS England warned that this winter could be one of the most challenging for the NHS.

He said: "There is a new variant circulating – BQ1 – which is becoming the dominant variant and it seems likely that is going to drive further increases.

"In some countries in Europe that have it you can already see growth in hospital admissions. No doubt those pressures will increase."

However, millions of Brits are now protected from a huge vaccine rollout and immunity from prior infections.

Cases are still lower than they were when Omicron first burst onto the scene.

This time last year, daily cases sat at over 53,000, with over 140 deaths being reported.

The latest data from the suggests there are around 3,000 cases a day with around 4,000 Brits in hospital with the bug.

ONS data states that cases are up six per cent on last week, when 972,000 Brits tested positive.

The data, up to November 21, shows that in England, one in 60 people currently have the bug.

In Wales this is one in 75 people and the experts said figures released today includes all variants currently in circulation.

'SMALL RISE'

NHS figures also suggest a small rise in the number of people testing positive for Covid in hospital - with 4,964 cases reported as of November 30, up eight per cent on the previous week.

The data suggests that the fall that had been seen in hospitalisations earlier this year has now stopped.

Patient numbers had been on a downward trend for just over a month after peaking at 10,688 on October 17.

Patient levels had peaked at 14,000 earlier this year, caused by  the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the virus - but this was still well below levels seen in the early 2020 waves of the pandemic.