London(UK)- The number of people testing positive for COVID in the UK within seven days has risen to 3,760,200, latest figures show.
In England, an estimated 3,147,700 people had coronavirus in the week to 14 July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
There were 340,900 cases in Scotland, 183,200 in Wales, and 88,400 in Northern Ireland in that same period.
Last week, the estimated number of people testing positive for the virus was 3,498,700.
That means 261,500 more infections have been estimated compared to last week
But last week’s increase was 29% – suggesting the rate of infection could be slowing.
Almost 3.8 million is the highest weekly estimate for total infections since mid-April but is still below the 4.9 million reached at the end of March.
Rates were highest in people aged 16 to 24 and 50-69 and lowest in children aged six to 11.
While rates have risen in most regions of the UK, some are plateauing or even beginning to fall.
It appears too early to tell whether those decreases will be sustained.
Most infections at present are the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants, making up 89.2% of infections in the week ending 3 July.
“It is too early to say if this most recent wave is starting to peak, but we will continue to closely monitor the data.”
The rise in total UK infections has been driven by a jump in England, where 3.1 million people were likely to have had the virus in the week to July 13, the equivalent of around one in 17.
This is up from 2.9 million, or one in 19, a week earlier.
The ONS describes the picture in the other three nations as “uncertain”.
Covid-19 remains most prevalent in Scotland, where 340,900 people were estimated to have had the virus in the week to July 14, or around one in 15.
This is up slightly from 334,000, or one in 16, and is the highest estimate for Scotland since the start of April.
Wales has seen infections level off at 183,200, or one in 17 people, broadly unchanged on 183,500 in the previous week, which was also one in 17.
In Northern Ireland, infections have dropped to an estimated 88,400 people, or one in 20, down from 107,600, or one in 17.