Covid cases in the UK have risen by nearly 20 per cent, according to new estimates, with around 2.7 million people infected last week.

The increase continues to be driven by the Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5, said the Office for National Statistics, whose latest data show that 1 in 25 people in England had Covid in the week ending 29 June.

This equates to 2.7 million infections — up 18 per cent from 2.3 million in the previous week.

This is the highest estimate since late April, but is still below the record high of 4.9 million, which was reached at the end of March.

Covid is most prevalent in Scotland, where around one in 17 people have the virus, up from one in 18 the previous week. This is the highest estimate for Scotland since early April.

However, infections in Scotland have been increasing at a slower rate compared with other UK nations, the ONS said.

In England, 2.2 million people were likely to have had the virus last week, the equivalent of around one in 25, up from one in 30.

Wales has also seen infections jump — to one in 20 people, up from one in 30. In Northern Ireland, infections have increased to one in 19, up from one in 25.

Meanwhile, the number of people in hospital in England who have tested positive for Covid-19 stood at 11,878 on 7 July — up 33 per cent week-on-week.

Those with Covid symptoms serious enough to require mechanical ventilator beds stood at 232 on 7 July — up 10 per cent week-on-week and the highest number for two months, but far below previous pandemic peaks.