Wales has the lowest Covid infection rate of any UK nation, but the picture remains mixed across the rest of the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey, which is based on a random sample, has revealed that the estimated number of people in Wales testing positive for the virus for the week ending October 24 was 77,500, which equates to 2.55% of the population, or around one in 40 people.
That's down on the previous week where 86,100 (2.83%), or around one in 35 of Wales' population, was thought to have Covid. Meanwhile the ONS said that England had seen a decrease for the first time since mid-September, while Northern Ireland had seen an increase. The trend in Scotland remained "uncertain".
The total number of people in private households in the UK testing positive for coronavirus stood at 1.87 million in the week to October 24, down on the 2.05 million in the previous week. This is some way below the peak of nearly four million reached in early July, during the wave caused by the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants of the virus.
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Sarah Crofts, deputy director for Covid-19 Infection Survey analysis, said: "This week’s data show a welcome decrease in infections in England, which is the first decrease since mid-September, though rates in over 70s remain high.
"There is a mixed picture across the rest of the UK, with a decrease in infections in Wales, an increase in Northern Ireland and an uncertain trend in Scotland. We will continue to monitor the data closely.”
In England, the number of people testing positive for coronavirus in the week to October 24 was 1.593 million, or around one in 35 people, compared with 1.75 million million the previous week.
In Scotland 141,400 people were likely to have Covid-19, the equivalent of one in 35, down slightly from 159,200, which is again one in 35. Northern Ireland has seen an increase, where the latest estimate for infections is 61,200, or one in 30 people, up from 53,700, or one in 35.
Meanwhile, according to Welsh Government statistics, on November 1 the number of Covid-positive patients in Welsh hospitals was 324, which has fallen from a high of 533 on October 13. Just 22 (7%) of people were being actively treated for the virus on November 1. And of the 12 Covid patients in intensive care beds, seven of them were being actively treated for the virus.
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