Data from the UK government, published on Tuesday 8 March 2022, reveals that there were 61,900 new positive tests over 24 hours, up by 58.7% on Tuesday’s figure of 39,000. The combined infections on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were also 54% higher than the total over the three days the previous week. Approximately 42,000 cases were spotted over those three days, an increase from 27,400 a week ago.
In Wales, the rate of infection is now showing an upward trend. While the seven-day infection rate reached a low of 166 cases for every 100,000 people on 28 February, this number has risen since then. The latest data suggests it will have been above 200 in recent days.
Hospital data has also shown that COVID-19 hospitalisations have continued to increase to 1,253 on 4 March, marking a 23.4% rise from the week before. Hospitals in the south west of England are recording more daily COVID-19 admissions now than during the height of the Omicron wave.
This spike in infections can be attributed to the ending of legal restrictions in England. As of 24 February, all COVID-19 restrictions were scrapped and free mass testing will stop from 1 April. The British Medical Association, a doctor’s union, has said that the plan failed to protect those most at risk from COVID-19.
The public health advice for people with COVID-19 is still to self-isolate, to prevent others from catching the disease.
