Covid-19 cases levelling off in England and Scotland - decreasing in Northern Ireland and Wales
Some areas in England are still seeing an increase in Covid-19 cases despite the lockdown measures put in place but the overall picture is improving.
The number of cases London, the south-east and east of England are going in an upward trajectory, while those in the north-west and East Midlands are decreasing, meaning the national figure in England is levelling off.
There was even better news with the announcement from Sage, the government advisory body, that the reproduction number, or R value, of coronavirus transmission across the UK is closer to 1, dropping from between 1 and 1.2 a week ago.
The highest rates remain in north-west England, with an estimated 2.0% of people in private households testing positive for Covid-19, and Yorkshire & the Humber (1.9%).
The impact of regional lockdowns is beginning to show in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The number of new cases is levelling off in Scotland, while in Wales and Northern Ireland the situation is improving as the number of cases drop.
There were an average of 38,900 new cases per day of Covid-19 in private households in England between November 8 to 14, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is down from an estimated 47,700 new cases per day for the period October 31 to November 6.
The ONS said the rate of new infections “appears to have levelled off in the most recent week”.
The figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings.
Secondary schoolchildren are most likely to test positive for Covid-19, research has found, with the number of primary schoolchildren found to have the virus also going up.
When modelling the level of infection among different age groups, the ONS said rates among secondary school-aged children (school years 7 to 11) now appear to be increasing again, while rates for young adults (school year 12 to age 24) appear to show early signs of levelling off.
Both these age groups continue to have the highest estimated rates of infection.
Rates are continuing to increase in primary school-aged children (school year two to six), but “appear to be levelling off” in people aged 25 and over, the ONS added.