COVID, Flu, Plague, Bundibugyo Ebolavirus, Dengue, H5N1, and Other Virus and Health UK and World News Update 9th October 2026
COVID levels in the UK continue to rise and a wave is underway, as was predicted. Levels have been super low since Spring, and you can't have it low forever. In Scotland there is a 121% increase in cases since last week. In Northern Ireland there was an increase in 25/30 areas according to wastewater surveillance (which has been paused this week), but test levels are stable, as they are in Wales. The latest stats show England has more than 10 times as many people infected as 10 weeks ago, up 34% on last week. Hospital admissions in England were a very low 950 in August and 4,939 in September.
Although the trajectory is steep, it must be stressed that this is all from that very low start, so still at low levels, and when people have gone a long time without catching it, and vaccination eligibility is very narrow, it's likely to spread.
There's a bit of talk about 'American COVID' or Stratus variant XFG. Popular in North America over the last couple of years, it's not a new strain, it's not even new to the UK, it just has some small changes. It doesn't appear to be any more severe, but it could have an advantage over some previous immunity - meaning we are even more likely to have high numbers of people catching COVID this Autumn. It also seems more likely to give you a scratchy sore throat, so at least you might sound as ill as you feel and get some sympathy...
