Coronavirus infection rates only down slightly ahead of new lockdown tiers

As the country awaits information on the new tier system, data released by the Office for National Statistics shows that positivity rates have finally dipped in England.

Around one in every 85 people had the coronavirus in the week November 15 to 21, which is the same as the week before.

The rate has only risen in one region - East Midlands.

Wales and Northern Ireland have seen their positivity rates fall, while Scotland has endured a slight increase.

Positivity rates, which record how many people in the country tested positive for the bug, give an indication of how many people were infected over the weeks previous.

Last week the ONS reported that there were around 664,700 people with the coronavirus in England.

That equates to around every one in 85 people having the potentially deadly bug, and compares to 633,000 this week.

The figure is slightly up from the week before, when 654,000 had the bug, compared to 618,000 the week before that.

Positivity rates were up among those in London, the East of England and the South East, but had decreased in the North West and the East Midlands.

As of last week the highest Covid-19 positivity rates remain in the North West and Yorkshire and The Humber, the ONS reported.

This week however, the rate of confirmed positive cases has only increased in the East Midlands.

It has continued to drop in the North West, while the West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West now also appear to be decreasing.

Positivity rates in Wales peaked around the end of October 2020, with positivity decreasing in recent weeks.

During the most recent week the ONS estimates that 16,400 people in Wales had Covid-19, equating to 1 in 185 people.

Positivity rates in Northern Ireland seem to have peaked around the middle of October 2020, with an estimated 12,700 - or one in 145 - positive cases.

In Scotland the rate is around one in 150, with 35,000 positive cases - a slight increase from last week's 33,800 figure.

The ONS figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings, only private households.

mirror