One in six in region had virus during December
Large variation across England found by survey
AROUND ONE in six people in Yorkshire and the Humber had had Covid-19 by December last year, it has emerged, as new figures revealed “substantial variation” between regions in England.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics’ Covid-19 Infection Survey estimated one in eight people in England had been infected as of last month, up from one in 14 in October.
Antibody data on infection in private households suggests that one in 10 in Wales had also been infected by December, alongside one in 13 in Northern Ireland and one in 11 in Scotland.
The statistics, released as part of a partnership with the University
of Oxford, University of Manchester, Public Health England and Wellcome Trust, are based on 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 ONS found “substantial variation” between regions in England, with 17 per cent or one in six of people in private households in Yorkshire and the Humber estimated to have tested positive for antibodies in December, compared with
five per cent in south-west England.
In Yorkshire and the Humber, in December 2,068 people were tested for antibodies and 260 tested positive. This equates to an estimated 735,000 people testing positive for Covid-19 across the region.
The number of people who test positive for antibodies indicates how many people have previously had the infection. But experts warned that the length of time Covid-19 antibodies are detectable in the blood is not known.
Meanwhile, some family doctors continue to express their frustration about the rollout of vaccines across the UK.
With more than half of the over-80s and half of elderly care home residents having received the jab, Ministers have now given the go-ahead to begin vaccinating the next priority groups – the over-70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable.
Family GP Dr David Holwell said it is “disappointing” that the number of vaccines being given in his area has fallen because of a lack of supplies.
This equates to an estimated 735,000 testing positive for Covid-19 across the region.