Nearly 28,000 Covid infections every day in the first week of October
16 October 2020, 17:17
Almost 28,000 people per day were infected with Covid in the first week of October, new figures from the ONS have shown.
According to new data, between October 2 and 8 there were an average of 27,900 new cases per day of Covid-19 across England.
This is up from an estimated 17,200 new cases per day for the period from September 25 to October 1.
The numbers don’t include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings, but instead focus on infections in private households.
This equates to around 5.11 new infections per 10,000 people per day.
It means that in England between October 2 and 8, 336,500 had Covid at any one time, the equivalent of around 0.62% of the population.
The ONS said the rate of new infections has continued to increase in recent weeks.
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The figures represent a jump from 224,400 people, or 0.41% of the population in England, who were estimated to have Covid-19 in the previous week of September 25 to October 1.
By comparison in Wales, an estimated 7,900 people in private households had Covid-19 between October 2 and 8 - the equivalent of 0.26% of the population.
This is up from an estimated 6,100 people for the period September 25 to October 1, or 0.20% of the population.
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In Northern Ireland, an estimated 0.41% of people in private households had Covid-19 in the two weeks from September 25 to October 8, or around one in 250 people.
However because the infection survey has only been running in Northern Ireland for a short period, the ONS said it is too early to comment on any trend on the proportion of population testing positive for Covid-19.
Scotland is not covered by the ONS survey.
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ONS data also showed that there continues to be clear evidence of variation in Covid-19 infection rates across the regions of England.
The highest rates are in north-west England, Yorkshire & the Humber, and north-east England, which have all seen "steep increases" in recent weeks, all of which have prevalence rates above 1%.
The lowest rates are in south-west England, eastern England and south-east England.
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Our estimate shows the number of infections has increased rapidly in recent weeks, and this is now our highest estimate since the survey began in May https://t.co/rdnaJhvbsR pic.twitter.com/zXWXn0IM8Q
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) October 16, 2020
The ONS also said the highest rates in England continue to be among older teenagers and young adults (from school year 12 through to age 24), and secondary school-aged children (school years seven to 11).
It added there are now also more signs of growth in the age groups covering 25 to 69-year-olds.
"Smaller increases are also apparent across all of the other age groups, apart from individuals aged 70 years and over," said the researchers.
Ruth Studley, head of analysis for the Covid-19 infection survey, said: "Our latest data shows infections continue to rise, with more than a third of a million people estimated to be infected – the highest levels we have seen since the survey began in May.
"Like previous weeks, infections continue to be highest in the north of England and among older teenagers and young adults."
