Covid cases in the UK have risen for a second day in a row but are still down on what they were last week.

Another 31,117 new infections were reported today, along with 85 new deaths and 932 new hospitalisations.

It means cases have increased again after falling everyday for more than a week. There were 27,734 cases yesterday and 23,511 on Tuesday.

But the overall trend remains downwards, with a 37.1% fall in the last seven days compared to the week before.

Last Thursday there were 39,906 cases and 84 deaths reported.

Government data up to July 28 shows that another 43,873 first doses and 171,341 second doses of a Covid vaccine were administered yesterday.

Today, new data was released showing the vaccines have prevented an estimated 22 million infections and 60,000 deaths in England, according to Public Health England.

Jabs are also estimated to have directly averted more than 52,600 hospital admissions.

In light of the latest figures, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officers, said he hopes the worst of the pandemic is behind us but warned there could be ‘one or two bumpy periods’ ahead.

He disputed a claim made to a newspaper by a senior minister earlier this week that Covid is ‘all over bar the shouting’ after cases dropped sharply this month.

Prof Van-Tam told the BBC News channel: ‘I wish it were so. This is not all over bar the shouting. I hope the worst is behind us but I think it’s quite possible that we’re going to have one or two bumpy periods in the autumn and in the winter, not only through Covid, but also through flu and other respiratory viruses as well.’

He said lockdowns last winter had ‘completely shut out pretty much all of the other respiratory viruses’ which he said could re-emerge this year.

He said: ‘If we don’t have further lockdowns, and I hope we don’t, then I think other respiratory viruses like flu are also going to come back this winter, and it’s going to be equally important that people who are called for their flu vaccines actually come forwards and have them this winter.’

The latest developments come after another record number of people were ‘pinged’ by the NHS app and told to self isolate after coming into contact with a positive case.

Some 689,313 people in England and Wales were forced into self isolation in the week to July 21, according to the latest figures.

Businesses have warned that the situation is becoming ‘untenable’ as so many staff are self isolating, forcing them to scale back production.

Several key workers have been made exempt from self-isolation requirements, if they have been double vaccinated.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article