Wales is continuing to see a welcome drop in the number of people catching Covid, latest data has revealed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey for the week ending August 16 shows that the estimated number of people testing positive for Covid was 65,500, equating to 2.15% of the population or around one in 45 people.
That is a fall on the 72,600 (2.39%), or around one in 40 people, recorded in Wales for the week ending August 8. A new booster jab will be offered to everyone in Wales aged 50 and over from next month, as well as those with underlying health conditions, to increase protection ahead of the future waves of the virus.
Across the UK Covid infections have fallen to their lowest level in two months. The ONS said a total of 1.4 million people in private households were estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to August 16. This is a drop of 16% from 1.7 million in the previous week and is the lowest total since the week to June 11
Read more: Mum told 'go to A&E in England' due to three-year wait for surgery in Wales
In England, around 1,211,100 people were testing positive, equating to 2.22% of the population or around one in 45 people in the latest reporting week. In Scotland it was was 135,000 (2.56%) or around one in 40 people and in Northern Ireland it was 26,400 (1.44%) or around one in 70 people.
The current wave has been driven by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the virus and saw weekly infections climb as high as 3.8 million in early July.
Sarah Crofts, head of analytical outputs for the Covid-19 infection survey, said: "Infections continue to head in the right direction across all of the UK and are now at levels similar to those last seen in mid-June. Rates remain lowest in school-aged children and we will closely monitor the data to see how the return of schools in September may affect this."
The ONS Covid-19 infection survey was launched in April 2020 to provide timely estimates on how many people were infected with the virus. Survey workers have visited people at their homes monthly to collect nose and throat swabs and, for some participants, blood samples, and have asked survey respondents a series of questions. Participants have always taken their own samples, and survey workers have stayed at least two metres away.
At its largest, the survey collected samples and information from around 400,000 people across the UK every month. However, this has now changed. All of this information is now being collected online or by telephone, and participants can post their swab and blood samples or get them collected by a courier.
Sarah Crofts added: "While these changes take place, we aim to continue to provide regular estimates of Covid-19 swab and antibody positivity to our high-quality standards. If we identify that further work is needed to meet these standards, it is possible that there could be changes to some of our publications over the summer months."
Meanwhile the number of people in hospital with Covid is also decreasing in Wales. On August 23, of the 254 in acute hospitals with Covid, just 22 (9%) were people being activity treated for for the virus. A week earlier it was 12%. Six coronavirus patients in Wales were in invasive ventilated beds in intensive care on August 23, four of whom were in Cardiff and Vale UHB, one in Cwm Taf Morgannwg and one in Swansea Bay.
Eligible adults in Wales are being invited for an autumn Covid booster vaccine. The rollout will begin at the start of next month to improve the immunity of those at higher risk from the virus. A single dose of the vaccine will be offered to:
- Residents in care homes for older adults
- Staff in care homes for older adults
- Frontline health and social care workers
- All adults aged 50 years and over
- People aged five to 49 years in a clinical risk group
- People aged five to 49 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression
- People aged 16-49 who are carers.
In line with advice from the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, eligible adults aged 18 and above will initially be offered the Moderna vaccine which protects from both the original Covid virus and the Omicron variant. Those eligible aged under 18 will be offered the Pfizer vaccine. Both vaccines will be offered at least three months after a previous dose.
Adults will mostly be invited via letter to attend a vaccination centre, GP or pharmacy for their jab. You can read all the key details on the upcoming roll-out here.
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