While non-Covid infections are set to play a role, this doesn’t mean COVID-19 would still play its part during a winter which, while still some way off, is already causing concern.
As well as worries about price rises and inflation, experts fear an autumn wave could bring with it a variant more resistant to immunity conferred by reinfection or vaccination.
The next wave of coronavirus is currently expected in early October, just as cases of cold and flu begin to rise. As a result, it will be harder for people to tell whether they have one of these viruses or COVID-19 without getting a test.
On the coming winter, Professor Lawrence Young of the University of Warwick said: “The hope is that frequent reinfection will continue to provide a wall of immunity that protects from severe disease.
“Booster jabs, particularly if modified to target Omicron, should also provide some protection from infection and transmission.”