COVID-19 infections continued to increase in England and Wales - Uncertainty for Scotland and Northern Ireland

30th September 2022

The percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 continued to increase in England and Wales, while the trend was uncertain in Northern Ireland and Scotland in the latest week.

The latest week is the week ending 17 September 2022 for England and week ending 20 September 2022 for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The estimated percentage of people living in private households (those not in care homes or other communal establishments) testing positive for COVID-19 was:

1.57% in England (1 in 65 people)

2.07% in Wales (1 in 50 people)

1.26% in Northern Ireland (1 in 80 people)

2.22% in Scotland (1 in 45 people)

COVID-19 infections continued to increase in England and Wales while trends were uncertain in Northern Ireland and Scotland
Estimated percentage of the population testing positive for COVID-19 on nose and throat swabs, UK countries, 19 September 2021 to 20 September 2022

Around one in four (25%) still socially distance
30 September 2022
Around one in four (25%) adults said they always or often maintained social distancing between 14 and 25 September 2022, a decrease from around 4 in 10 (38%) in the spring period (13 to 24 April 2022).

There was also a drop in the proportion of people who had used a face covering when outside their home, from 65% in the spring period to 25% in the latest period. Of those who used a face covering in the latest period, just over half (52%) used it always or often, with just under half (47%) using it only sometimes or not very often.

Over 4 in 10 (43%) adults reported feeling very or somewhat worried about new variants of COVID-19. The majority of adults (84%) reported thinking that the booster vaccine is very important or important in slowing the spread of COVID-19.

Among those who met up with someone outside their household, around 4 in 10 (40%) of those aged 70 years and over said they maintained social distancing, compared with just under 1 in 10 (8%) adults aged 16 to 29 years. Over half (52%) of adults aged 70 years and over were very or somewhat worried about new COVID-19 variants, compared with around 3 in 10 (29%) adults aged 16 to 29 years.

Deaths involving COVID-19 decreased in the UK
27 September 2022 
There were 347 deaths involving COVID-19 registered in the UK in the week ending 16 September 2022, down from 414 in the previous week.

The total number of deaths registered was 12,133, which was 10.1% above the five-year average (1,115 excess deaths). Deaths involving COVID-19 accounted for 2.9% of all deaths in the UK in the latest week; this is a decrease from 3.4% in the previous week.

The number of death registrations in the previous week was affected by the bank holiday on 29 August 2022. Caution is needed when comparing across weeks, and with the five-year average.

Read the full report at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19/latestinsights#infections