Covid-19 infections continue to fall in much of UK but rise in Scotland
Covid-19 infections are continuing to fall in most parts of the UK but have risen slightly in Scotland, figures show.
A total of 1.1 million people in private households across the UK are estimated to have had the virus in the week to May 21, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This down from 1.3 million the previous week and is the lowest estimate for the whole country since the end of November 2021, when virus levels were just starting to rise due to the spread of the original Omicron variant.
Total infections have now fallen by 78% since the peak of the recent Omicron BA.2 wave in late March, when a record 4.9 million were estimated to have Covid-19.
Levels are not dropping in all four nations, however.
In England, infections have fallen for the seventh week in a row, with 874,400 people likely to test positive for Covid-19, the equivalent of around one in 60.
This is down week-on-week from 1.0 million, or one in 55.
But in Scotland, prevalence of the virus has increased, with 135,400 people estimated to have Covid-19 last week, or one in 40: up from 122,200, or one in 45, a trend the ONS describes as “uncertain”.
Wales has seen infections drop for the sixth week in a row, with 52,900 people likely to have Covid-19, or one in 55, down from 80,700, or one in 40.
The virus continues to be least prevalent in Northern Ireland, where infections are now at their lowest level since mid-October 2021.
Some 23,300 people were estimated to have Covid-19 here last week, or one in 80, down from 29,800, or one in 60.
Published: by Radio NewsHub