ONS says 1 in 15 have COVID 19 in England.
LONDON, Jan 5 Reuters -- Britain reported record COVID 19 prevalence for the last week of 2021, with one in 15 people in England infected.
The increase in cases has put strains on public services such as hospitals, which are facing staff shortages and growing admissions.
com world uk uks-johnson-will-continue same-path tackling-covid - 2022 -- 01 -- 03 has resisted imposing stringent lockdown measures in England. He has beent that a vaccine booster drive and caution among the population will suffice for the latest wave of infections despite the arrival of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
More than 220,000 COVID 19 cases were recorded on one day last week, and the provision of services and testing capacity is increasingly under strain.
The estimate of COVID 19 prevalence in England was one in 15 for the week ending December 31 - over 6% of the population, and up from an estimate of one in 25 for the previous week, the Office for National Statistics said.
The ONS figures showed record prevalence in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In all, an estimated 3.75 million people were infected across the United Kingdom.
One in 10 people tested positive for the Omicron variant in London.
Johnson said on Tuesday that England had a chance to ride out the surge in COVID 19 infections without shutting down the economy thanks to vaccines and evidence that Omicron is milder than previous variants.
He warned of significant disruption from staff absences as people self-isolate. He will update the Parliament later on Wednesday on his COVID 19 strategy.
The UK Health Security Agency said on Wednesday that people with COVID 19 symptoms who test positive on a rapid lateral flow test in England will not need to confirm the result with a PCR test that needs to go to the lab for processing, a move designed to ease pressure on the testing system.