Coronavirus cases in the UK have soared by nearly a million in a week, official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows.
Infections are nearing record levels in England, while both Scotland and Wales have reached the highest amount since the pandemic began.
The rise is being driven by the Omicron BA.2 variant, a more transmissible form of Omicron, the ONS said.
Data shows that around one in 16 people in private households in England – or 3.5 million people – are likely to have had Covid-19 in the week to March 19.
This is up from one in 20, or 2.7 million people, in the previous week and is the third week in a row that infections are estimated to have risen.
Across the UK, 4.26 million people were likely to have had the virus last week – just short of the 4.30 million in the first week of 2022, which was the highest total since estimates began.
Northern Ireland was the only nation to see a fall in cases. Numbers rose by just over a quarter in Scotland, by nearly a third in England and by nearly more than half in Wales.
The figures are further evidence that Covid-19 is becoming rapidly more prevalent in the UK after all restrictions were scrapped last month.
People who test positive for Covid-19 in England are no longer legally required to self-isolate.
The government is still advising anyone who catches the virus to stay at home and avoid contact with other people. However, whether or not you follow this advice, is up to your discretion.
The change, which was criticised by some doctors, is part of the government’s long-term plan to ‘live with Covid’ as we transition from pandemic to endemic.
This week marked the two year anniversary from when the nation first went into lockdown on March 23 2020.
Experts have said extra restrictions may be needed if hospitalisations keep going up.
However, one leading doctor said there ‘would be riots’ if the government sought to impose another full lockdown again.
On Monday, vulnerable people in England were invited to start booking a fourth Covid spring booster jab.
Around five million over-75s and immunosuppressed people will be eligible for the vaccine, with 600,000 expected to get letters this week.
The UK Health Security Agency says 100,000 people have needed hospital treatment since Omicron’s rise in December, but jabs may have prevented around 157,000 hospitalisations
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