Infection rates rise ‘possible signs’ of slowing in England
The latest estimates show infection rates have continued to rise across most of the UK, with rates only dropping in Scotland.
The ONS data shows that in the week ending 24 July, around 1 in 65 people were estimated to have had Covid-19 in England.
The rate was around 1 in 65 people in Northern Ireland, and around 1 in 160 Wales.
In Scotland, the percentage of people testing positive dropped that week – around 1 in 110 people had Covid-19.
Though England’s infection rate went up in the week ending 24 July, there are “possible signs that the rate of increase may have slowed”, the ONS says.
The highest percentage of people testing positive in England was in the North East, while infections increased across all regions except the East of England and the South West.
The percentage of people testing positive has increased for those aged two to 16, and those over 50.
The government’s official dashboard shows the number of tests being done in the UK fell by 14.4% in the week leading up to 24 July.
Boris Johnsons lifted the last of England’s Covid-19 restrictions on July 19 in spite of the highly transmissible Delta variant which is concerning doctors and scientists around the world.
The official daily number of cases in Britain started to fall from this wave’s peak of 54,674 recorded on July 17, 50,955 of which were in England.
Cases rose rapidly in the run-up to the end of legal restrictions in England, with health minister Sajid Javid saying cases could hit 100,000 a day after the unlocking.
Instead, the number of new cases recorded each day started to fall.
Daily reported cases fell for 7 straight days to a low of 23,511, but have risen on each of the last two days.
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