London, Jan 15 (IANS): The proportion of infants in hospital with Covid-19 in the UK has risen with the spread of the Omicron variant, figures suggest, although researchers have urged calm, noting most cases are very mild.

The number of Covid-positive admissions is expected to rise when there is more infection around, but the latest figures suggest there has been a shift in the proportion of children in hospital with coronavirus who are infants, the Guardian reported.

Data from the Isaric/Co-CIN study, published on Friday by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and based on a broadly representative subset of NHS hospitals, reveals that in previous Covid waves about 30 per cent of children in hospital with the virus were under the age of one.

Between mid-December and mid-January, however, when Omicron spread rapidly around the country, the proportion was just over 42 per cent, with children from the most deprived areas most affected.

The data does not break down whether infants were in hospitals because of Covid or the infection was detected during care for another reason. However, in the second wave the majority of Covid-related infant admissions were because of Covid, experts said.

A similar trend has been recorded for the proportion requiring oxygen, and the time infants spend in hospital has fallen from almost seven days in the first Covid-19 wave to just under two days.

Most infants in hospitals with coronavirus experience fever and a cough.