The CEO of the UK Health Security Agency said, ‘Covid hospitalisation numbers are expected to rise further’ as Covid cases jumped by 32% in a week. The Office of National Statistics reported ‘Over 1.7m people were infected on 7th July’. People are encouraged to ‘go about their normal lives but take precautions’ by handwashing, keeping a distance from others where possible and wearing a face-covering in enclosed, poorly ventilated areas. In England 9,000 Covid patients were hospitalised on 30 June, twice as many as at the start of June. The latest rise in Covid infections was 500,000 cases last week. One in 30 has the virus. It is ‘quite likely’ that hospital numbers will peak above where they were in the spring. There is evidence of a slight reduction in the effectiveness of vaccines on variants, but they are still keeping the majority of people safe from severe disease and hospitalisation. People with Covid symptoms should stay at home.