UK records 200,000 Covid cases a day, data shows

Omicron subvariants are likely to be fuelling the spread of infection across Britain

Coronavirus cases are surging across Britain owing to the spread of new Omicron subvariants. PA

The UK is recording at least 200,000 coronavirus cases a day, analysis has shown.

Figures provided by the Zoe Covid Symptom Study app show that cases have increased by 75 per cent this month to hit 200,121 as of June 19.

The research, which is led by scientists at King's College London, found that could be 2.2 million people in Britain with symptomatic Covid-19.

Scotland and London are among the worst hit areas of the UK. Scotland has recorded more than 3,000 daily cases for every million people a day, while about 5,000 cases per million have been reported in London.

The surge has probably been driven the spread of the latest Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, which are now thought to be the dominant strains in much of the UK.

The government-funded Zoe app is used to study the symptoms of Covid-19 and track the spread of infection.

It may be more accurate than the government's coronavirus case tallies, with 16,400 infections reported by the authorities on Tuesday.

Figures published last week by the Office for National Statistics showed cases were estimated to have increased in all four nations of the UK and were back to levels last reported at the start of May.

The number of suspected outbreaks of the virus is also at its highest since the beginning of last month.

Staff absences at hospitals in England – another measure of the effect of the virus – were up in the first week of June, the latest data from NHS England has shown.

Prof Tim Spector of King’s College London has said public attitudes towards the pandemic have shifted significantly in the past few weeks.

Cases in the UK reached their peak between March and April this year as about 350,000 infections were reported each day, Zoe Covid app data shows.

"Whilst everyone’s talking about it, people aren’t quite as aware of it as they were and so only one person in a carriage on the Tube in London is wearing a mask," Prof Spector told the i newspaper.

“But if people knew that one in 25 or 30 people have Covid – and that there’s bound to be someone in that compartment with it – they might change their behaviour a bit.

“Lots of people are still being ill for four weeks, even with Omicron. It’s not a picnic, it’s still unpleasant."