 suggests infections will continue to decline until January, but may start to rise significantly in the New Year. It comes as Covid cases are beginning to level off in BritainCredit: Getty But Professor Karl Friston of UCL told The Sunday Telegraph the "morbidity and mortality of a large post-Christmas wave should be substantially less than previous years." Professor Friston said: "It looks as if the current peak has passed. "The long-term forecast suggests a subsequent peak after Christmas. "This appears to be largely driven by seasonal fluctuations in transmission risk and a slower underlying increase, due to the emergence of new variants." HE added: "One should perhaps also note that virulence has declined substantially, particularly in the face of vaccination. "This means the morbidity and mortality of a large post-Christmas wave should be substantially less than previous years." It comes as Covid cases are beginning to level off in Britain after infections began to peak in early October. The number of people testing positive rose by just 40,000 to 2.05million - a mere 2 per cent rise. And more recent data showed the number of hospitalisations is also down by 16 per cent. It shows the latest Covid surge is dying, having caused less damage than any previous wave. However, Kara Steel, ONS senior statistician for the Covid-19 infection survey, said the new figures show a 'mixed picture'. 'It remains too early to say from the data whether we are seeing a turning point in the level of infections – which remain high across the countries," she said. Meanwhile, two new Covid strains have been detected in the UK - with more than 700 cases identified so far. The sub-strains, named BQ.1 and XBB, are descendants of Omicron - the dominant strain currently circulating. BQ.1 is a highly trans){kind=link}
FOR the first times in years Britain could experience a relatively Covid-free Christmas this winter, despite the emergence of two new variants.
Modelling by University College London (UCL) suggests infections will continue to fall until January, but may start to rise significantly in the New Year.
This means few, if any restrictions are likely to be imposed over the festive period, which in previous years have spoiled Christmas plans.
But Professor Karl Friston of UCL told The Sunday Telegraph the “morbidity and mortality of a large post-Christmas wave should be substantially less than previous years.”
Professor Friston said: “It looks as if the current peak has passed.