Flu and Covid cases remain low despite ‘slight’ rises in UK

According to the ‘UKHSA’ influenza and Covid cases remained low despite slight rises in cases up to 8 October 2026.

Influenza (Flu) positive tests have increased by 1.5% from 5% to 6.5% this week with positive GP swabbing increasing from 7.6% to 10%.

Covid-19 PCR positive tests increased slightly from 7.9% to 9.1% with both Hospital and ICU admissions remaining low at 0.06%. The majority of people catching Covid are those over 85 and younger people with poor immune systems, the slight rise in cases this week means 1.638 people are identified in hospital settings.

This type of situation will continue for ever during the Autumn and Winter months with both Flu and Covid and so long as you keep cleaning your hands and avoid people who look unwell, isolate where possible and if sneezing try to use a tissue so not to spread the thousands of droplets everywhere you will be better protected from most bugs that are circulating in the community.