Covid infection rates: UK regions where the greatest proportion of people are testing positive for the virus

In its weekly Covid Infection Survey the Office for National Statistics estimated around 1 in 65 people in England have the virus, here’s how the rest of the UK and the regions compare.

Covid rates are continuing to drop across most of the UK but almost a million people are still estimated to have the disease, new data published today (25 November) shows.

In its weekly Covid Infection Survey, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated around 809,200 people in England had the virus in the week ending 15 November 2022, representing around 1.48% of the population, a drop on last week’s figures when 1.73% were estimated to have the disease.

In Scotland around 83,700 people were estimated to have Covid, around 1.59% of the population, a decrease from 1.85% in the previous week. In Wales around 45,400 were estimated to have the virus, representing 1.49% of the population, a drop from 1.84% on last week’s figures. There was no change in Northern Ireland’s figures, however. The ONS estimated 34,100 had the virus, representing 1.86% of the population.

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The infection rate figures come from swabbing members of private households with PCR tests. The ONS ran the survey throughout the pandemic and as community testing has been scrapped across the UK it gives us the best picture of Covid infection levels. Figures are published at a regional level in England, and national level for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Last week the ONS published its monthly local level figures for the UK. It found Northern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland had the highest infection rate in the UK with 2.38% of the population affected.

Despite the decrease in infection rates some parts of the UK are still recording higher rates than others. Here we reveal which UK regions had the greatest proportion of people testing positive in the week ending 15 November 2022.

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