COVID-19 Cases ‘Rising Exponentially’ in England, Study Finds | UK News

COVID-19 cases are ‘increasing exponentially’ across England, with the latest estimates putting the R number at 1.44.

Infections increased by 50% between May 3 and June 7, coinciding with the rise of the Delta variant, which has become dominant in the UK since it was first detected in India.

Delta has overtaken the Kent variant and now accounts for up to 90% of coronavirus cases.

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The number of cases is doubling every 11 days, according to data from the REACT-1 study by scientists at Imperial College London.

The figures also show that one in 670 people has been infected, with the highest prevalence in the Northwest.

Stephen Riley, Imperial professor of infectious disease dynamics and one of the study’s authors, said the exponential increase in prevalence is due to infections in young people.

The REACT-1 study showed that the prevalence is highest in people aged 5 to 12, as well as in young adults aged 18 to 24.

Infections in these age groups are about five times higher than in people over 65, who are mostly fully vaccinated.

Commenting on the results, Prof Riley said: ‘The bottom line here is that we are in a very different part of the UK outbreak and it is very difficult to predict how long the exponential phase will last.

“Last fall and last spring – when we were when we started seeing exponential growth – in some ways it was much more alarming because we knew there was very, very little. immunity in the population.

“(But now) because of the vaccination (program), we know that there is a lot of immunity in the population.

“Even though there is a lot of immunity, it doesn’t stop exponential growth and that’s what we’re seeing here.”

Scientists have said that the expansion of the vaccination program …