‘The way it’s playing out is unexpected’: UK faces up to changing waves of Covid

As infections soar in the third major wave this year, experts say Covid may never settle into a seasonal cycle

Paddling pools are out, beer gardens are brimming. But a startling proportion of the UK population will be cooped up in their bedrooms having the strange experience of nursing a fever and sore throat in July as Covid infections continue to soar in the third major wave this year.

For most this will be an unpleasant inconvenience rather than a tragedy. But with a fourth wave expected in the autumn, a fifth potentially kicking off by Christmas and experts saying that Covid may never settle into a seasonal cycle, some are questioning whether this steady grind of illness is sustainable.