British PM Boris Johnson watches as 88-year-old Nitza Sarner receives a Pfizer booster vaccination as he visits a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Little Venice Sports Centre, in London. Photo / AP
British PM Boris Johnson watches as 88-year-old Nitza Sarner receives a Pfizer booster vaccination as he visits a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Little Venice Sports Centre, in London. Photo / AP
Covid has infected more than 70 per cent of people in England since the early months of the pandemic, new estimates showed.
An estimated 38.5 million people have had at least one infection since the end of April 2020, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Separate estimates reveal that Covid-19 infections have fallen simultaneously in all four UK nations, for the first time since January.
The ONS began tracking infection levels on April 27, 2020, meaning that the figures are likely to be an underestimate because they do not cover the first wave of the virus which began the month before.
The new estimates only run up to February 11 this year, so they do not include those infected for the first time in the past two months.
However, the statistic – showing that at least 70.7 per cent of the population has had Covid – is the first time that an attempt has been made to calculate the cumulative number of people who have had the virus.
Professor James Naismith, the director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, said: "These numbers are an underestimate of where we are now, due to the very high prevalence since mid-February.
"The total number of infected people was rising rapidly when the data stopped. The bottom line is the majority of people in the UK have had Covid-19, in some regions of England today I would predict the portion of those who have had Covid-19 will easily exceed 80 per cent."
The data also showed how each wave of Covid has pushed up the cumulative number of people to have been infected.
By the start of the second wave in September 2020, the proportion of the population in England to have had Covid-19 since April 27 was just under 2 per cent.
This reached 15 per cent by mid-January 2021, hitting 25 per cent by August, and 40 per cent by last November.
Omicron-induced spike
Once the Omicron wave began, the rate of the increase quickened sharply, with the proportion reaching 50 per cent by late December, 60 per cent by mid-January 2022 and 70 per cent by early February.
Separate estimates have been published for the other three UK nations, which started surveys later in the pandemic. In Wales, 56 per cent of the population is likely to have had Covid-19 between June 30, 2020 and February 11, 2022.
A woman wears a face mask as she walks in Covent Garden market, in London. Photo / AP
In Scotland, 51.5 per cent of the population had the virus between September 22, 2020 and February 11 this year. In Northern Ireland, 72.2 per cent of the population is estimated to have had Covid-19 between July 27, 2020 and February 11, 2022.
The figures do not include those in hospitals, care homes and other communal establishments.
The ONS Covid-19 infection survey is a nationally representative survey that tests a large sample of people each month. The same people are retested, regardless of whether they have symptoms, which means the survey can identify both infections and reinfections as well as asymptomatic cases.
Separate figures show falls in infection levels in all four nations, suggesting the recent surge in infections driven by the omicron BA.2 variant has peaked.
Across the UK, 3.8 million people in private households are estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to April 16, down from 4.4 million the previous week.
