Tests indicate 1 in 15 have had Covid-19
ONE in 15 people in England may have had coronavirus, antibody test results suggest.
Blood samples from 885 people analysed since April 26 showed that 6.78 per cent had antibodies, indicating they had recovered from the deadly bug, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found.
An average of 133,000 people in private households were estimated to have coronavirus at any given time between May 11 and 24, similar to the 137,000 estimated in the period between May 4 and 17.
The ONS estimated around 54,000 new cases were occurring each week.
Presenting the figures at the Downing Street briefing, the UK’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said: “That is not a low number so it’s worth remembering that we still have a significant burden of infection.
“It’s still the case that the vast majority of us have not had the infection and this is a virus to which all of us are susceptible.”
Crucially, only 21 per cent of those who tested positive had symptoms on the day they were tested.