COVID INFECTIONS FALLEN AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN IN ENGLAND

Sat 06 November 2021:

Despite covid infections have dropped among secondary schools in England for the first time in weeks, experts from the government’s pandemic advisory board warn that deaths and hospitalizations from the disease could rise dramatically in the next nine days across the UK.

Infection rates among children aged 11 to 16 in school years seven to 11 dropped to 7.5% in the week ending 30 October, ending rises throughout September, and down from a high of 9.1% the week before, according to figures issued on Friday by the Office for National Statistics.

However, prevalence remained the highest in those children, and the ONS said that it was too early to determine the impact of the half-term holiday on infections in school children.

“Rates have decreased for school Year 7 to school Year 11 in the most recent week, however rates remain high,” the ONS said, referring to secondary school children, mostly teenagers.

“The trend was uncertain for all other age groups in the most recent week.”

The region with the highest prevalence was the South West, with 2.9 percent estimated to be infected, echoing the findings of an Imperial College London survey released on Thursday.

The region was impacted by an error at a private lab that resulted in an estimated 43,000 people wrongly being given negative PCR test results.

The ONS report states: “It is too early to determine the impact of the half-term holiday on the numbers of infections among school-aged children. This is because the tests that were carried out during the week ending 30 October will have identified positive cases from those who became infected before the half-term period.”

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