UK wide Covid-19 infections drop to lowest level for nearly a year - but rise in Scotland

Total Covid-19 infections in the UK have dropped to their lowest level for nearly a year.

Some 881,200 people in private households are estimated to have had coronavirus in the week to September 5, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That's down seven per cent on the previous week and is the lowest UK-wide total since the week to September 25 2021, when the number stood at 837,800.

It's possible the UK is starting to see the affect of fresh booster vaccines, which have been offered to vulnerable people.

Recently, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the chief of the World Health Organization, said the end of the pandemic was "almost" in sight.

However, the downward trend in some parts of the country is uncertain, with increased numbers in Scotland.

The overall number of infections has been on a downwards path since early July, when the total hit 3.8 million at the peak of the wave caused by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the virus.

There are also contrasting trends among UK nations and regions.

In England, the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus in the week to September the 5th was around one in 75 – down from about one in 70, in the seven days previously.

But in Scotland, 113,500 people were likely to have tested positive for Covid-19 in the latest week, or one in 45 – up from 104,400.

The latest estimate for infections suggests one in 110 has the virus, compared to one in 95 the week before.

And in Northern Ireland the estimate is 33,700, or one in 55 people, compared with 38,000, or one in 50.

With children going back to school, the number of people testing positive is also estimated to have increased for children from age two to school year six in England.