Covid cases three times higher in children

Covid infections among five to 11-year-olds are three times more prevalent than in the general population, a Government-backed study has found.

An estimated 4.47% of primary school-aged children have the virus – compared with 1.41% across the country overall, according to the research.

REACT-1, a joint study by Imperial College London and Ipsos Mori, analysed data from 97,000 volunteers in England to examine national Covid-19 levels between November 23 and December 14.

It predicted the rapidly spreading Omicron variant will become the dominant strain across the country more than three times faster than Delta overtook Alpha.

But the speed of the vaccine roll-out to secondary school-aged children and the booster roll-out among adults may have helped to curb infection rates among other age groups, researchers said.

Professor Paul Elliott, who led the study, said the findings showed that the R value – the average number of secondary cases produced by one infected person – began shooting up at the start of December.

He said: “From December, the proportion of samples which are Omicron has been rapidly increasing, reflecting the rapid rise in Omicron.

The figures come after the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine was approved for use in vulnerable primary school children.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) updated its advice after the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) found the jab was safe for five to 11-year-olds following a robust review.