Covid: Is there a summer wave and new variant?

Possibly, but it is difficult to tell.

We do know there has been a very small increase in the number of people being admitted to hospital with Covid.

The number went up to 3.31 admissions per 100,000 in the week to 16 June, compared with 2.67 per 100,000 in the previous week.

The largest group of people hospitalised with Covid were those aged 85 and over.

In terms of how many people have Covid and stay at home, it is difficult to say.

We no longer collect national data in the way we used to, as far less testing takes place now.

That means many cases of Covid are not being recorded.

The data, external we do have is based on laboratory tests taken across the country, mostly swabs taken from people in the healthcare system.

According to this data, about one in every 25,000 people had Covid on 26 June.

This may sound a lot but it is a tiny number compared with what we saw at the start of the pandemic. In March 2020, it was one in 13.

However, rates of Covid go up and down throughout the year, without necessarily becoming a cause for concern.

Prof Paul Hunter, an epidemiology expert from the University of East Anglia, told the BBC he did not believe the current Covid rates were concerning.

“I think we’re probably seeing about as much infection this year as we were seeing last year – a little bit less, but not hugely less.”

He believes that generally, we are seeing far fewer deaths and far fewer hospitalisations from Covid than last year.