Coronavirus: Daily infections in England fell 18% to 38,900 last week

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England’s coronavirus outbreak DID slow down in the first full week of lockdown as ONS estimates daily infections dropped 18% to 38,900

  • Office for National Statistics’s weekly report admits infections are now ‘levelling off’ in England
  • The total size of the outbreak remains bigger than at any point on record because of weeks of fast increase
  • A total 664,700 people were thought to be infected with coronavirus in the week from November 8 to 14 
  • SAGE is expected to publish an updated estimate of the R rate this afternoon, after it fell towards 1 last week 

By Sam Blanchard Senior Health Reporter For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

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England’s coronavirus outbreak slowed down in the first full week of national lockdown, with daily infections dropping from 47,700 to 38,900.

Office for National Statistics data published this afternoon showed there was an 18 per cent decline in the number of people infected with the virus between November 8 and November 14. 

The ONS said the rate of new infections ‘appears to have levelled off in the most recent week’ but that there are now ‘substantial differences’ between different regions.

While cases are continuing to come down in the worst-hit North of the country, where many areas were in Tier Three local lockdowns before the national measures, they are still increasing in the South and the East.

This week’s report estimates that a total of 664,700 people across England were infected with coronavirus last week, which is more than at any time since the ONS started its programme. The results are based on mass swab testing of a random portion of the population.

In the past fortnight, which produced the data used in today’s report, 198,932 tests were carried out and 2,046 people tested positive in 2,257 tests. The adjusted infection rates suggest one in ever 80 people is currently carrying the virus.

Promising numbers from the ONS seem to suggest that both the Tier Three local lockdown rules and, later, the national shutdown, are successfully slowing down the spread of the virus. Experts at the statistical body said: ‘The rate of increase [in positive tests] in England has slowed in recent weeks’.