Scientists are calling on the new government to closely monitor Covid levels throughout the year – rather than just during winter – after a summer wave of cases has led to a new dominant FLiRT variant. At the moment, Covid levels are only measured in the general population from mid-November to mid-March, for the winter infection survey . For the rest of the year, the true number of infections is far less clear as data is confined to those who are hospitalised and people with symptoms who test positive at hospitals and GPs.
These cases give a basic indication of trends but are a very “rough and ready” measure that is subject to significant uncertainty, scientists say. Monitoring Covid closely throughout the year – such as the summer wave the UK is currently experiencing – would help keep a lid on waves of infections outside of winter. Constant monitoring could also help to alert people to the scale of infections so they can take steps to protect themselves, they argue.
This would, in turn, reduce the risk of a nasty new variant emerging as the higher the number of infections the more the risk of one developing. The need for year-round monitoring has been further underlined by the emergence of a new dominant variant – known as KP.3 – in the UK, which belongs to a group known as the FLiRT variants.
It accounted for 64 per cent of infections on June 30 and has driven the summer wave – demonstrating that Covid has not settled down as a seasonal virus in the way t.