National Flu And Covid-19 Surveillance Reports Published

10th December 2021

Weekly national influenza and COVID-19 report, monitoring coronavirus (COVID-19) activity, seasonal flu and other seasonal respiratory illnesses.

The main points from this week's national influenza and COVID-19 surveillance report are:

Surveillance indicators suggest that at a national level COVID-19 activity has increased in some indicators such as case rates for those aged 5 to 9 and the number of acute respiratory infection incidents in England in week 48 of 2021.

Case rates were highest in those aged 5 to 9, with a weekly rate of 1063.8.8 per 100,000 population.

The lowest case rates were in those aged 80 and above, with a weekly rate of 65.4 per 100,000 population.

Weekly case rates per 100,000 population were highest in the South East at 648.5.

Case rates per 100,000 were lowest in Yorkshire and the Humber with a weekly rate of 361.1.

The number of acute respiratory infection incidents (suspected outbreaks) in England was 618 in week 48, compared to 582 in the previous week.

The hospital admission rate for week 48 was 6.40 per 100,000 population, in the previous week it was 6.43 per 100,000 population.

Hospital admission rates for COVID-19 were highest in the West Midlands, with a rate of 7.56 per 100,000 population.

The highest hospital admission rates continue to be those aged 85 and above.

Dr Sophia Makki, National Incident Director at the UK Health Security Agency, said:Rising numbers of cases in younger age groups and the spread of the Omicron variant suggests that we are entering a difficult period. It is crucial that we all act now to stop the spread.

If you haven’t done so already, get your jab as soon as possible. It’s absolutely vital that everyone follows updated government rules including on mask use and working from home where you can. If you have any COVID-19 symptoms stay at home and get a PCR test as soon as possible."