Iran Press/ Europe: The latest surge is driven by the more transmissible omicron variant BA.2, which is the dominant variant across the UK.
The prevalence of COVID-19 in the UK has reached record levels, with about 1 in 13 people estimated to be infected with the virus in the past week, the latest figures from Britain's official statistics agency showed.
Some 4.9 million people were estimated to have the coronavirus in the week ending March 26, up from 4.3 million recorded in the previous week, the Office for National Statistics said Friday, The latest surge is driven by the more transmissible omicron variant BA.2, which is the dominant variant across the UK.
The figures came on the day the government ended free rapid COVID-19 tests for most people in England, under Johnson's “living with COVID" plan. People who do not have health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the coronavirus now need to pay for tests to find out if they are infected. 219
