Covid cases have surged across the UK week on week with 41 coronavirus deaths recorded in the most recent seven-day data period released by the UK Health Security Agency.
Cases of Covid have increased 13.5% week on week to October 7, according to UKHSA data, with Covid deaths up a staggering 46.4% week on week to October 2 and hospital admissions up 33.5%. As recent data also shows a rise in American Covid cases, a significant portion of these will be the XFG Stratus variant.
For September, the UKHSA revealed that the rate of positive Covid tests in hospitals increased from 5.9% to 7%, and more than half were found to be the American Covid or Stratus variant of XFG, first identified last January and which has since spread globally.
The latest UKHSA Covid dashboard figures show that the number of deaths per week has been steadily rising over the past month, with 41 to October 2, from 28 on September 25, up from 20 on September 18 and 11 and just six on September 4.
- Oct 2: 41
- Sep 25: 28
- Sep 18: 20
- Sep 11: 20
- Sep 4: 6
- Aug 28: 8
- Aug 21: 8
- Aug 14: 8
- Aug 7: 10
- Jul 31: 7
But Covid deaths still have not hit the same peak as this time last year. For the week ending October 3, 2025, Covid deaths hit 102.
Covid, as with other viral infections like flu and norovirus, tends to spread most during colder weather, which is why winter usually sees the largest peak in cases as temperatures begin to drop.
According to the NHS, these are the symptoms of Covid to look out for, which includes American Covid strains:
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
feeling tired or exhausted
feeling sick or being sick
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
