FOI Ref: FOI/2021/3065
You asked
Please supply the rate of positive day 2 and day 8 test results for travellers returning from overseas. A breakdown for each category of country i.e. red and amber would also be helpful.
If such a breakdown was not possible then an overall estimate of percentage positive results since the scheme began would be helpful.
We said
Thank you for your request.
The COVID-19 Infection Survey is a household survey that estimates the number of people testing positive for infection and for antibodies in the UK. Our statistics refer to the number of current COVID-19 infections within the population living in private residential households. We exclude those in hospitals, care homes and/or other communal establishments. In communal establishments, rates of COVID-19 infection are likely to be different.
Participants in the COVID-19 Infection Survey are visited monthly, so we do not hold data on specific days such as day 2 and day 8 upon returning to the UK. You may be interested in our analysis on the likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19 by whether the participant reported that they travelled abroad in the last 28 days in UK. This can be found on tab 2k in the dataset accompanying our technical article on populations at risk of testing positive for COVID-19. Your query may be better placed with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). They can be contacted via email at enquiries@ukhsa.gov.uk or via FOI email at InformationRights@UKHSA.gov.uk.
You can find the official reported estimates of the percentage of the population testing positive for COVID-19 on tab 1a of the datasets for England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland accompanying our latest bulletin.
Further information and an overview of data about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Office for National Statistic (ONS) and other sources can be found in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights tool.