COVID levels fall in the UK

As reported by the BBC News, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the number of people who have currently have COVID has fallen in the month of April

ONS stats suggest 3.76m people, approximately one in 17, had COVID in the week ending April 16th. This is a fall of around 15% from the previous week – when 4.4m were infected.

The decline is welcomed though the ONS have warned that infection rates remain high in the UK.

This is the clearest picture of the current situation in the UK since the government stopped the provision of free testing earlier in the month.

The ONS randomly tests thousands of people, with or without symptoms, to calculate their statistics.

In the week ending 16 April, the ONS study estimates:

• One in 17 people in England had COVID, about 5.9% of the population – down from 6.9% the previous week

• One in 15 people in Wales had coronavirus, about 6.5% of the population – down from 7.6% the previous week

• One in 30 people in Northern Ireland had coronavirus, about 3.6% of the population – down from 5.2% the previous week

• One in 19 people in Scotland had coronavirus, about 5.4% of the population – down from 6% the previous week