In its Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey pilot, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that approximately 24,600 people in England had COVID-19 between 7 to 13 August. This figure equates to approximately 1 in 2,200 individuals in the community population. Isabella Colletta reports
infections per 10,000 people in the previous week, resulting in approximately 2,400 news cases per day. It is also estimated that 1,300 people in Wales had COVID-19 in this timeframe, which is approximately 1 in 2,400 people.
Data collected by the survey has not provided enough evidence to determine if there was a fall of incidences in England in the recent week, therefore the ONS continues to report that incidences have levelled off in England. The survey has provided no evidence to suggest there is a different infection rate in different regions of England, however, it does show a small rise in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 in July compared to the low in June.
Katherine Kent, Co-Head of Analysis for the COVID-19 Infection Survey, said: “Our analysis of the results from recent weeks suggests there is not currently enough evidence to say whether the number of new cases per week has done anything other than levelled off when compared with last week’s estimate.
“This week we announced the substantial expansion of this survey which will now take in data for the whole of the UK and we have started sending out invites for new people to take part. More samples means we can give more detail in our estimates and provide much needed local information about the spread of COVID-19. If you are contacted, please take the time to do your bit to help control the spread of this virus.”
