A WORCESTERSHIRE virologist has shared his fears Covid could return strongly this autumn and cause disruption again.
Professor Lawrence Young has also warned about poor detection of variants now fewer tests are being taken.
Professor Young said improving weather and people being out and about more, plus people having good vaccine protection at the moment, was all contributing to lower numbers of cases.
Professor Young, who lives in Bromsgrove and works at Warwick Medical School, said: “While it is a good picture at the moment, the worry is the winter.
“We are not monitoring like we were before because we are not doing as many PCR tests, and that means we can’t detect variants like we were able to.
“Variants are emerging all the time at the moment.
“My worry is we could have variants brought in from other countries, as people return from holiday.
“And my fear is what will happen in autumn and the winter months, when people move indoors and have less protection from vaccines.”
Latest coronavirus data for Worcestershire
Latest figures show the number of Covid patients in Worcestershire hospitals - Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital and the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch - have stabilised in recent weeks.
The figures show there were 61 Covid patients on May 26, the same number as the previous week.
There have also now been no Covid patients in an ICU beds fitted with a ventilator for a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile NHS data reveals there have been six coronavirus deaths announced for county hospitals this week.
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The six deaths all came at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust sites, bringing its total to 1,081.
The number of deaths at Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust sites has stayed at 74.
In total there have been 1,155 covid deaths at Worcestershire hospitals during the pandemic.
Public Health England (PHE) figures show there were 435 cases in the week up to May 21 - a fall of 2.7 per cent on the previous week.
The date also shows:
- Worcester saw a rise of 15.6 per cent in the seven days to May 21 with 89 cases recorded.
- Wychavon, which includes Evesham and Droitwich, was down 24.7 per cent to 64 cases.
- Malvern Hills saw a rise of nine per cent, to 73 recorded cases.
- Redditch saw a fall of 21.1 per cent to 56 recorded cases.
- Bromsgrove saw a rise of 4.1 per cent, to 77 cases.
- And Wyre Forest, which includes Kidderminster, saw a rise of 4.1 per cent to 76 cases.
The latest vaccination figures, up to May 25, reveal that 87.1 per cent of Worcestershire adults have had a first dose of a Covid vaccine, 83.7 per cent have had a second, while 69.8 per cent have had a booster.
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