Covid rates surge across England amid new 'hybrid' variant - as Government prepares to ease rules

The guidance around Covid-19 will soon change again as infection rates in nearly every authority area in England continue to rise amid confirmed cases of a new 'hybrid' variant in the UK.

In the week ending March 6, the rates went up in 311 of the council areas in England (98.7pc) - including all 10 boroughs in Greater Manchester - and went down in the remaining four, according to Public Health England.

It comes ahead of another planned change to Government guidance on April 1, which will end free testing for most people and modify the wording around Covid-19 precautions.

Bringing the guidance more in line with the public health information around other infectious diseases, people will be asked to limit passing on Covid-19 through a number of measures including 'trying' to stay at home when unwell as opposed to the current advice that they should to do so for at least five days. The legal requirement to self-isolate was ended last month.

READ MORE: Greater Manchester's coronavirus infection rates rise in all ten boroughs again

Scientists believe the uptick in cases to be driven by waning booster vaccines, a return to pre-covid socialising amid the lifting of restrictions, and two new potentially more transmissible variants,

Dubbed the ‘stealth variant’, BA.2 is a close relative of Omicron but there are fears it’s more transmissible. ‘Deltacron’, meanwhile, is a mutant hybrid of Omicron and Delta, with cases in the UK now confirmed and the WHO preparing to give an update.

It's currently thought the symptoms of high temperature, a new continuous cough or loss or change to sense of smell or taste remain the same with all variants. The number of people being admitted to hospital is also on the rise, amid calls for a