Covid: One in eight people in England had virus by December last year, according to ONS survey

Credit: PA

An estimated one in eight people in England had had Covid-19 by December last year, according to a survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is up from an estimated one in 11 people in November and one in 14 in October. The figures are the proportion of the population who are likely to have tested positive for antibodies to Covid-19, based on blood test results from a sample of people aged 16 and over.

The number of people who test positive for antibodies indicates how many people have previously had the infection.

The ONS also found “substantial variation” between regions in England, with 17% of people in private households in Yorkshire & the Humber estimated to have tested positive for antibodies in December, compared with 5% in south-west England.

Elsewhere in the UK, the figures according to the ONS’s Covid-19 Infection Survey are:

  • In Wales, an estimated 1 in 10 people

  • In Northern Ireland, an estimated 1 in 13 people

  • In Scotland, an estimated 1 in 11 people

Credit: ONS

What are antibodies?

These Y-shaped proteins are made by the immune system to help stop intruders from harming the body.

When an antigen - an invader, in other words - enters the body, the immune system springs into action.

These antigens can be viruses, bacteria, or other chemicals.

Antibodies are made for specific cells, which is why people infected with a virus can become immune once they recover - because their body will remember the structure of that specific invader.

They lock on to the invading cell and mark it for destruction by other immune cells

ITV UK Editor Paul Brand breaks down the situation in care homes

ONS figures also show a total of 6,057 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending January 8 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.

This is up from 3,144 deaths in the week to January 1 and is the highest weekly figure since the week ending April 24.

The ONS said the number of registrations will have been affected by the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day bank holidays.

More than a third (34.1%) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to January 8 mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.

The ONS said the figures should be interpreted with caution as the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day bank holidays will have affected numbers previously registered.

The ONS also produced the first weekly dataset on the registered deaths of care home residents, including deaths that occurred in the care home but also elsewhere.

A sample of blood after performing a home kit antibody test. Credit: PA

It found that 1,370 deaths of care home residents involving Covid-19 were registered in the week ending January 8.

Deaths involving the virus of residents in care homes, as notified to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), have almost doubled in a fortnight.

There were 1,260 deaths involving Covid-19 in care homes notified to the CQC in the week ending January 15, a 45% rise from the 864 deaths notified during the previous week.

And it is almost double the 661 deaths notified to the regulator in the week ending January 1.

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The percentage testing positive for Covid-19 antibodies in each region

Across England, “there is substantial variation in antibody positivity between regions”, its report states:

– Yorkshire and the Humber 16.8%

– London 16.4%

– North West 15.1%

– West Midlands 14.3%

– East Midlands 12.7%

– North East 12.5%

– South East 8.3%

– East of England 8.1%

– South West 4.9%

This means that the South East, East and South West all have rates below the average in England, while others have higher-than-average rates.

The number of people who test positive for antibodies indicates how many people have previously had the infection.

How many have died with Covid-19 since the outbreak?

Deaths related to Covid-19 are at least 89,000 in the UK.

More than 106,000 deaths involving Covid-19 have now occurred in the UK, according to figures. A total of 99,813 deaths have so far been registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the latest reports from the UK’s statistics agencies. This includes 90,720 deaths in England and Wales up to January 8, which were confirmed by the ONS on Tuesday. Since these statistics were compiled, a further 6,447 deaths have occurred in England, plus 146 in Scotland, 260 in Wales and 181 in Northern Ireland, according to additional data published on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard. Together, these totals mean that so far 106,847 deaths involving Covid-19 have taken place in the UK.

However, government figures show 89,860 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19.

This discrepancy exists because the ONS includes deaths in all setting - not just hospitals.