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The Office of National Statistics estimated that 2 per cent of the UK population, or one in 50, had the condition at the start of December - before Omicron sent cases spiralling to record levels.
The nationwide picture is unclear, but many of those in COVID-19 hospitalization statistics are not there primarily because of the coronavirus.
A person walks past the emergency room of a hospital in New York, on December 13, 2021. Wang Ying/Xinhua via Getty Image Florida's Jackson Health
As infections continue to soar in the new Omicron wave, cases of people who managed to stay free of the infection become ever more remarkable.
The number of patients in hospital with Covid is rising, but how can we tell if they have been admitted because of the virus?