The number of Brits getting coronavirus symptoms each day has dropped again and fallen by 18 per cent on last week’s figures, data revealed today.
The Covid Symptom Study, run by ZOE and King’s College London, estimated there are now around 4,470 people becoming ill every day — down nearly a fifth from 5,494 per day last week.
But the rate of decline slowed, with the previous week seeing cases fall by a third, and experts blamed the levelling off on on schools reopening.
Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist leading the study, said the levelling off was expected and there is ‘no reason to worry’.
The findings add to Test and Trace data which showed total cases fell by 14 per cent in England last week, despite the number of tests being done almost doubling from 3.1million to 5.8million in a week as children returned to school.
Covid cases reported by the Government fell by 7 per cent in a week to 6,303 yesterday. And deaths almost halved in a week, to 95. Hospital admissions are also still falling.
The Office for National Statistics will today publish a new estimate of how many people in the country have the virus. Last week it fell by a fifth to just over 200,000 — the equivalent of one in every 270 people.
The Covid Symptom Study, run by ZOE and King’s College London , estimated there are now around 4,470 people becoming ill every day — down nearly a fifth from the 5,494 figure last week
Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, said scientists expected the decline in cases to slow but expects to see it accelerate again in the future.
He said: ‘After steady falls at the beginning of the week, we’ve seen cases levelling off in recent days, especially in Scotland, Wales and the North-East of England.
Rates were lowest in the South West of England, with 252 registering symptoms per day, and the East of England, where just 297 became ill each day
‘This is to be expected after reopening schools across the country and is no reason to worry.
‘We’re keeping a close eye on cases in school-aged children and so far there’s nothing alarming about the data. I believe we’ll see case numbers holding steady for a little while before cases drop again.’
The study estimates one in 823 people suffered from Covid symptoms last week, with 3,226 people becoming ill per day in England, compared to 648 in Scotland, 172 in Northern Ireland and 424 in Wales. Just one in 1369 school-aged children developed Covid symptoms.
The figures are based on over a million app users reporting their symptoms and so cannot take into account people who get the virus but don’t have symptoms. It also doesn’t include people in hospitals or care homes.
Rates were lowest in the South West of England, with 252 people developing symptoms per day, and the East of England, where just 297 became ill each day.
They were highest in the Yorkshire and the Humber (602) and London (549), falling just 5.5 per cent from 581 in the previous week.
The estimated R rate, measuring the number of people infected by each person with the virus, is close to 0.8 in England and 1.0 in Scotland and Wales. An R of 1 means the outbreak is neither growing nor shrinking.
SAGE will publish an updated official estimate of the R rate later today. Last week it was thought to be somewhere between 0.6 and 0.8 – it’s lowest ever level.
The ZOE study also looked at the risk of blood clots in its users and found no link to Covid vaccines, after the European Medicines Agency yesterday confirmed it has found no evidence linking the AstraZeneca jab to a rare clot in the brain.
Boris Johnson last revealed he will get the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine today as he attempted to calm fears about the jab’s link to the rare type of blood clot.
The Prime Minister insisted it was ‘so important’ that people get their injection as soon as they are invited, adding that the British-made vaccine was ‘safe and effective’.
He said it was ‘reasonable’ for people to want reassurance on vaccines, but pointed to findings from drug regulators in Britain and Europe which today confirmed the benefits of the jabs ‘far outweigh any risks’.
Mr Johnson told tonight’s Downing Street press conference: ‘It’s so important that we all get our jabs as soon as our turn comes – and as it happens, I’m getting mine tomorrow… The Oxford jab is safe, the Pfizer jab is safe, what isn’t safe is catching Covid.’
More than a dozen EU countries – including France, Germany, Spain and Italy – have suspended the use of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine after reports of some people suffering blood clots after being vaccinated.
The chief of Britain’s medical regulator, Dr June Raine, who joined the PM at the podium tonight, said there was no evidence the vaccine is behind the cases.
After the EMA’s announcement a raft of European countries said they would soon resume vaccinations, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.
However, despite the report, both Sweden and Norway have decided to keep a ban on the jab in place for a few more days.
Public Health England data showed Covid cases shrunk in every region of England except Yorkshire last week. But the positivity rate – one of the best ways of tracking the size of the outbreak when swabbing increases – dropped in all regions
Their report also revealed that Covid infection rates were still falling among all age groups with a marked decrease among the over-80s, which have already received their first dose of the Covid vaccine
Covid cases have continued to tumble in England, with NHS Test and Trace seeing a 14 per cent fall in infections despite testing nearly doubling to 5.8million