Covid cases plateaued in England last week but remained stubbornly high
Covid cases plateaued in England last week but remained stubbornly high at 766,000 as infections in Scotland soared 170% in fortnight after schools went back, official data shows
Office for National Statistics swabbing estimated 766,100 people had Covid in England last weekThis was barely a change from 756,000-odd in the previous seven-day spell, and up 10 per cent in two weeksBut in Scotland infections rocketed 170 per cent in the wake of the return of children to the classroom
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England’s Covid cases plateaued but remained stubbornly high last week, official estimates suggested today as children returned to schools across the country.
The Office for National Statistics’ weekly surveillance report suggested 766,100 people were infected with Covid on any given day in the week to August 27, or one in 70. This was barely a change from 756,900 previously.
But in Scotland — where schools reopened in mid-August — infections have rocketed 170 per cent in a fortnight. The ONS estimated 69,500 Scots had the virus last week, or one in 75, a mammoth surge from 25,900 previously.
Experts fear England will face a surge in cases similar to Scotland in the coming days as pupils return to classrooms this week and the next. There are concerns these could spill over into older age groups, who are vulnerable to the virus.
The UK’s vaccine advisory panel is being lobbied hard by ministers, politicians and some scientists to give the green light to rolling out the vaccine to 12 to 15-year-olds but it has so far resisted the calls.
Britain is becoming an international outlier with France, the US, Canada, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands all already administering jabs to over-12s. Last night Norway became the latest country to OK the move.
The above charts show the percentage of people who would test positive for Covid in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on any given day since the start of August. It reveals cases are surging in Scotland after the return of schools, but have plateaued in England — although they remain at stubbornly high levels
Across England, the ONS found that cases were surging fastest in the South West. The area has seen a spike in cases amid a staycation boom and the kickstarting of music festivals. The above graphs show Covid cases by region
The above graph shows estimated Covid cases by age group. It predicts that cases may have been rising in school age tchildren even before they went back to the classroom, and among 25 to 34-year-olds. There is also an uptick in the over-70s
The above map shows estimated Covid infection rates in the UK. Red indicates a higher infection rate, and yellow indicates a lower infection rate. The map suggests cases are highest around Northern Ireland and the North East
The ONS estimated Covid cases may have slightly decreased among 12 to 24-year-olds in the week before schools went back — although this age group still had the highest infection rate overall.
They said around one in 35 people from school year 12 to age 24 are estimated to have Covid in the week to August 27.
Covid cases were also suggested to have risen slightly among over-70s, although the oldest age group still had the lowest infection rate. Around one in 170 people in this age group were estimated to have Covid in the week to August 27. The trend was uncertain for all other age groups.
Across England Covid cases were estimated to have increased in the South West and the West Midlands, but dropped in London and the East Midlands.
Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest proportion of people of any region likely to test positive for coronavirus in the week to August 27, at around one in 55.
The East Midlands, eastern England and London had the lowest estimate, at around one in 85.
In Wales, around one in 110 people are estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to August 28, up from one in 120 in the previous week and the highest level since the week to February 6.
In Northern Ireland, the latest estimate is one in 65, down from one in 40 in the previous week.
All figures are for people in private households.
Scientists and ministers were at war today over whether the UK should be routinely vaccinating children now that the majority of the West has green-lit the plans.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) — an independent body which advises the Government on the Covid jab roll-out — claims it’s still not clear if the benefits outweigh the risks.
Whitehall sources said there was ‘palpable frustration’ with the JCVI among Cabinet ministers, who fear the new academic year will trigger a fresh wave of the virus in classrooms.
Experts pushing back against the move today argued that it would be ‘ethically dubious’ to jab children solely to protect adults, because Covid itself poses such a tiny risk to youngsters.
Others believe it is better for children to catch Covid and recover to develop natural immunity than to be reliant on protection from vaccines, which studies suggest wanes in months.
Professor Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline: ‘It is one thing to say have a vaccine to protect your health, but quite another thing to persuade you to have a vaccine to protect my health. One is entirely ethical and the other is dubious.’
And Professor David Livermore, a medical microbiologist at the same university, said natural infection could be a ‘a better first step in the lifelong co-existence’ with the virus than rolling out the jabs.
But the move to jab healthy kids for Covid has been backed by several experts who warn that letting the virus rip through schools could result in more disruptions to education and force lockdown restrictions to be rolled back.
Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at Reading University, told MailOnline today that he would feel comfortable vaccinating children so long as their parents consented.
He said the wider benefits to keeping schools open and infection rates low outweighed any small risks of side effects from the jabs.
And in a letter written to the Education Secretary this morning, a group of scientists said the wider effects curbs would have on children’s learning, health and wellbeing meant it was ‘reckless’ to send secondary children to classes unvaccinated.
The JCVI is believed to be concerned about the small risk of heart inflammation in young people.
