Covid infections rise in Wales for second straight week

Covid infections have risen in Wales for the second week in a row.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, the estimated number of people testing positive for Covid-19 in the week ending 14 February was 55,300, up from 46,300 the previous week.

This is a jump of almost 20% from the previous week and equates to 1.79% of the population (1.50% in the reference week’s study), or around 1 in 55 people.

The UK-wide figures have increased for the third week in a row, as an estimated 1.4 million people in private households were likely to have Covid, up 17% from 1.2 million the previous week.

This is the highest total since early January.

A surge in the virus in the run-up to Christmas saw infections peak just below three million at the end of December.

The figure then fell for much of January, before rising again in recent weeks.

Omicron variant BA.2.75

The current increase is being driven by the Omicron variant BA.2.75, which has overtaken BA.5 and its subvariants as the dominant type of coronavirus in the UK, the ONS said.

The BA.5 variant had been responsible for most Covid-19 infections in the country since the end of June 2022.

But nearly three-quarters (74.5%) of sequenced infections now belong to the BA.2.75 family, including its subvariants XBB and CH.1.1, both of which have a “growth advantage”, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Michelle Bowen, ONS head of health surveillance said: “Infections have continued to increase across most of the UK, with Northern Ireland the exception with an uncertain trend in the most recent week.”

Around one in 45 people in England is estimated to have coronavirus, up from one in 55 the previous week.

The virus continues to be least prevalent in Northern Ireland, at around one in 60 people.

The latest estimate for Scotland is one in 45 people.