Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, UK: 8 July 2022 from the Office for National Statistics shows the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) in private residential households.
The ONS said:
‘The following points are for the week ending 29 June 2022 for England and Northern Ireland, and the week ending 30 June 2022 for Wales and Scotland.
– The percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) continued to increase across the UK, likely caused by increases in infections compatible with Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.
– In England, the estimated number of people testing positive for COVID-19 was 2,154,000 (95% credible interval: 2,062,600 to 2,247,100), equating to 3.95% of the population, or around 1 in 25 people.’
‘The positivity rate is the percentage of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 on a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test at a point in time. We use current COVID-19 infections to mean testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, with or without having symptoms, on a swab taken from the nose and throat. This is different to the incidence rate, which is a measure of only the new PCR positive cases in a given time period.’
‘Data are based on confirmed positive COVID-19 test results from those living in private households, excluding those living in care homes or other communal establishments.’
‘Official estimates should be used to understand the positivity rate for a single point in time and are our best and most stable estimates, used in all previous outputs. They are based on a reference day from the statistical model of the trend in rates of positive nose and throat swab results for the latest week. All estimates are subject to uncertainty given that a sample is only part of the wider population.’