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Covid cases are on the rise. Infection levels have been going up fast. They jump 30 % in a week. At the end of june, just under two point three million people were estimated to have the disease. So how bad will things get in this latest wave? And are these endless cycles of rising and falling infections what living with covid looks like? I mean, sample the guardian science edator, and this is science weekly,. gramed your professor of infectious disease modelling at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine.

The UK is yet again facing a wave of Covid infections, with cases soaring by more than half a million in a week at the end of June. This time, the wave is driven by even more transmissible variants of Omicron known as BA.4 and BA.5. But with all Covid precautions gone, and many of us heading to bars, pubs, festivals and sporting events as the summer rolls on, is it much of a surprise? Ian Sample asks Prof Graham Medley if infections will translate into hospitalisations and deaths, and whether we can expect ongoing cycles of Covid waves in the months and years to come. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod