LONDON, April 6 ― England recorded its highest ever Covid-19 infection prevalence in March and cases were still increasing in the over-55s at the end of the month, an Imperial College London survey said today, adding that Omicron subvariant BA.2 was now dominant. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has...
LONDON, April 6 ― England recorded its highest ever Covid-19 infection prevalence in March and cases were still increasing in the over-55s at the end of the month, an Imperial College London survey said today, adding that Omicron subvariant BA.2 was now dominant.
Imperial's study showed that the peak in infections in March surpassed the highs of the BA.1 Omicron wave in January, reinforcing findings by the Office for National Statistics that cases have hit an all-time high. “We don't yet know when we'll see a peak in the oldest age group, the 55+, and because those people are at higher risk of severe outcomes, that is a particular worry,” Imperial epidemiologist Christl Donnelly told reporters.
Among over 55s, prevalence reached a record 8.3 per cent by March 31, which the researchers said could be due to increased mixing from a group that had largely been more cautious during the pandemic as a whole, and the waning protection of booster shots against infection.