The proportion of hospital patients in England testing positive for Covid increased by 7 per cent in the week to Sunday 6 April, as the ‘positivity rate’ rose from 4.2 per cent to 4.5 per cent, according to the latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
And while the current level is barely a quarter of what it was at the height of last summer’s wave, it does show that Covid has far from vanished, even if it doesn’t register highly in the public consciousness anymore, scientists say.
The latest figures suggest the rate of increase – which has been steady and consistent for most of this year – is accelerating.
This indicates that waning immunity is the main driver of this year’s increases in the Covid rate.
“Growth seems highest in older age groups, indicating that uptake of the spring vaccination will be an important factor in how this plays out. The school holidays may also delay infections taking off,” Prof Griffin added.
“At the same time, immunity for more vulnerable groups will have waned. For those in eligible groups for the spring booster, who are more vulnerable to the virus, it is recommended that they get their spring vaccine as soon as possible,” he told The i Paper.
And they say it can’t be taken as a precise estimate for the level of Covid in the general population because it is only based on hospital patients.
They also point out that hospitalisation rates have been fairly stable so far this year – falling 2 per cent to 1.43 per 100,000 of the population, in the week to Sunday 6 April.
This indicates that the proportion of cases leading to severe illness is decreasing.
Spring booster campaign
Booking for the spring 2025 booster campaign, which runs from 1 April to 17 June, 2025, will begin on Tuesday.
Those eligible will be:
adults aged 75 years and over; residents in a care home for older adults; and individuals aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressedGPs will contact those who are eligible to invite them to sign up for a spring booster.
You can also book through the national booking system (which goes live on Tuesday) at this website:
Or by using the NHS app for Apple or Android.
And you can find your nearest walk-in vaccination site on the NHS website.
Around 9.8 million people in England, out of the estimated 20 million who were eligible, had a Covid jab in the 2024 autumn booster campaign.
The uptake among under-65s with weakened immune systems was particularly low with only around 22 per cent of those eligible in England taking up the offer of a free jab.
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