COVID cases are climbing again and spiked by 40 per cent last week.
Two new faster-spreading versions of the Omicron variant are taking over in the UK and driving a rebound in infections.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics estimate 1.4million Brits had the bug last week – around one in 50 people.
It marks a 43 per cent rise from 990,000 the week before and the biggest jump for six months.
Professor Christina Pagel, from University College London, said: “The latest ONS data confirms the start of the new wave in UK nations.”
But health chiefs have faith the hospital toll will be much lower than in previous waves, thanks to widespread immunity.
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Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS medical director, told the Health Service Journal: “I’m not expecting it to go back up to the levels we saw in the first part of the year and before Easter.”
Infections had been at their lowest levels since last September but rise as Germany is also facing a summer wave.
The increase is being driven by new variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are offshoots of the dominant Omicron strain known as BA.2.
They are thought to be more infectious than the original version and now account for around half of UK cases.
Hospital admissions are also rising, with 4,607 new patients testing positive in the last week up from 3,453 over the previous seven days.
Dr Mary Ramsay, of the UK Health Security Agency, said: “After a period of low case rates, we are now seeing increases in outbreaks in care homes and in hospitalisations among those aged 80 years and over.
“It is encouraging that we are not seeing an increase in ICU admissions but we are monitoring data closely and assessing the possible impact of sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5.
“As we enter summer, it’s still important to remember that Covid-19 has not gone away and to get vaccinated to reduce the risk of becoming seriously ill with the virus.”
Saffron Cordery, chief of the NHS Providers union, said hospitals are watching patient numbers closely.
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She said: “When infection rates increase, so do hospital admissions.
“Thankfully we are nowhere near the peaks seen during the worst of the pandemic but if admissions go up dramatically the NHS may have to divert efforts into looking after people with Covid once again. Clearly we all want to avoid this happening.”
