Why are there around thirty thousand new COVID-19 cases reported every day in the UK?

The delta variant is very transmissible still around 6 million adults unvaccinated could be a couple of reasons

More mixing?

These are cases of course. Not deaths.

It’s going to be around for ever just don’t think about it too much We don’t continuously count flu cases each year

And these are only the cases which are reported. I imagine if you get a positive result from a self-administered lateral flow test and simply isolate and don’t need medical treatment your case doesn’t make it into the statistics. So there are probably a great many more cases than we know of. Largely because so many people refuse to be vaccinated I suppose. The government’s decision not to introduce vaccine passports for attendance at night clubs and large sporting events etc was a lost opportunity.

Some Chinese are still getting infected despite extreme measures.

www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/09/02/1033396323/china-is-imposing-strict-lockdowns-to-contain-new-covid-outbreaks-but-theres-a-c?t=1632325622058

I think it’s down to a government that’s hoping to achieve herd immunity (that isn’t going to happen). Which, when I wrote to my MP about it, was denied. Seems to me that most people are now ignoring the fact that we’re still in the middle of a pandemic.

Because a very large proportion of the population has not been vaccinated.

The vaccines give very high protection but not 100% efficency. Efficiency varies depending on other health conditions. Two doses are needed for the highest protection. Only 66% of the population has had two doses. 72% has had only one dose. That’s 28% of the population with no protection. Almost 19 million people not protected based on a population of 67 million.

Around 8% of people aged over 65, those who are most likely to have co-morbidities, have not been vaccinated. That's approximately a million people.

There is evidence of vaccine-fade, vaccine protection becoming less effective over time hence the booster programme.

The high infection rate does not mean that everyone infected becomes seriously ill. Some people are asymptomatic, some feel a bit tired or have a cold.

The weekly number of deaths from Covid, people who died within 28 days of a positive test is now small, compared to the average number of deaths per week from other causes.

In August 2021, there were 40,460 deaths registered in England, 2612 in Wales (ONS data).

The leading cause of death in August 2021 was dementia and Alzheimer's disease and ischaemic heart disease. Covid accounted for 5.3% of all deaths registered in August in England and 2.7% of all deaths in Wales (ONS data).

Germanshepherdsmum each home lateral flow test has a QR code or ID number and the results must be reported to the NHS, so they would be included.
Hopefully most people will do this.

Because more and more people are testing and may test positive even if they are asymptomatic. Without the test and without symptoms they would not have realised they were positive and infectious.

V3ra if someone tests positive on a Lateral flow reports it then does a PCR to confirm do they match the results or does this end up as two positive cases

ElderlyPerson

I may be missing something that is well-known to others or perhaps seen as obvious, but I am genuinely puzzled as to why, with the pandemic having been a top public concern for 18 months now, there are around thirty thousand new cases being reported every day in the UK.

Is there an answer?

Some people may catch it more than once.

In fact, I suspect the number of cases may be much higher than reported because, as Germanshepherdsmum said, many cases may not be reported.
Add to that the number of people who may be asymptomatic

There may have been many cases early last year, too, before Covid was officially recognised as a novel coronavirus.

Does anyone know the age range of those contracting Covid at the moment? Is it mainly teenagers and younger children? Or young adults?

Here’s the explanation that was on BBC News this morning, which explains the factors well.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55045639

rosie1959

V3ra if someone tests positive on a Lateral flow reports it then does a PCR to confirm do they match the results or does this end up as two positive cases

That I don't know! I can find out though from someone who works in a testing laboratory.

Shrub

Does anyone know the age range of those contracting Covid at the moment? Is it mainly teenagers and younger children? Or young adults?

This should help. Shrub

All sorts of useful numbers here: www.travellingtabby.com/uk-coronavirus-tracker/

NotSpaghetti

More mixing?

These are cases of course. Not deaths.

Death is not the only serious side effect of covid. The virus attacks internal organs, including the brain. Colds and flu don't. So even a mild case of covid can turn out to have very long lasting and debilitating effects., sometimes life changing. It is the complete indifference to this exhibited by some people that really concerns me. Also the fact that children are being infected and who knows how their futures will be affected, We could be condemning generations of young people to a very poor future all because 'It's OK, there aren't many people dying...'

Just one of many explanations:

www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/inq/coronavirus-symptoms-affects-organs-human-body-20200821.html

V3ra

Germanshepherdsmum each home lateral flow test has a QR code or ID number and the results must be reported to the NHS, so they would be included.
Hopefully most people will do this.

I personally know people who use the free testing kits but do not bother to report the results, there is no way of knowing if someone has done a test other than their honesty.

I did a test today before going to visit mum in a care home and did scan the code to report the result as I needed to show the home the text from the NHS with my test result. However, even when reporting the result, it still relays on my honesty to give the correct result, the scan only detects the code, not the result - not that I would go to the care home following a positive result! But it would be easy to do that in order to go to a camping festival or football match!

Thanks Alegrias1, that confirmed my suspicions, if I understand it right. My head swims seeing all those charts. Maybe we need to avoid seeing our grandchildren again!

One word - schools.

And universities.

Geekess it’s not just schools at all everything has opened up sports, football, festivals, theatres, cinemas etc etc you can’t blame any one section
We are having to learn to live with CoviD

Stating facts isn't blaming. More than 100,000 children in England missed school last week with confirmed or suspected infections.

I don't know about answers but "cases" doesn't mean very much. what's importanat is how many hospitalisations and deaths but those numbers re harder to come by. they will be nothing like the number of cases/positive test results.

I'd also like to know what the recovery rate is. That is not easily available either.

Case numbers alone are useless.

Hospitalisation and death figures are easy to find out. Why do you think they're not?