One person in 50 had Covid in England last week, ONS data shows

Coronavirus infections in England have increased to the same levels seen at the height of the second wave in January, data has revealed, with one in 50 people in the community having the virus last week. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, based on swabs collected from randomly selected households, an estimated 2% of people had Covid in the week ending 22 October – about 1,102,800 people. Such levels were last seen in the weeks around late December and early January, when the second wave of Covid swept across the country. The figures mark a rise on the week before, when about one in 55 people in the community in England were thought to have Covid. Such levels were last seen in the weeks around late December and early January, when the second wave of Covid swept across the country.