New Omicron sub-variants cause COVID-19 cases to rise in the UK

COVID-19 cases are rising across the UK, with the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing the number of people infected has more than doubled since the start of June. The surge in cases is due to two new fast-spreading sub-variants of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5. Research in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that BA.4 and BA.5 can ‘substantially escape’ the protection from either vaccination or infection. In the week ending 24 June, the ONS estimated COVID-19 rates were one in 30 in England and Wales, one in 25 in Northern Ireland, and one in 18 in Scotland. In its analysis of England’s figures, the ONS found infections were going up in all regions and in all age groups. The two new variants were added to the World Health Organization's (WHO) monitoring list in March and have also been designated as variants of concern in Europe.