You asked
Please provide the number of people who have antibodies against COVID-19 and also the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 since March 2020 and per age group.
Also why are the recovered people number not advertised daily like the cases and fatalities are?
We said
Thank you for your request.
The COVID-19 Infection Survey is a representative household survey, which measures the number of people testing positive for infection and antibodies in the UK. Our statistics refer to individuals in the community, by which we mean private households. These figures exclude infections reported in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings.
In the dataset accompanying our latest antibody and vaccination article, you can find the modelled estimates of the percentage of people testing positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2:
- In England on tab 1a and by age group in England on tab 1c
- In Wales on tab 2a and by age group in Wales on tab 2b
- In Northern Ireland on tab 3a and by age group in Northern Ireland on tab 3b
- In Scotland on tab 4a and by age group in Northern Ireland on tab 4b
All of our antibody and vaccination articles and accompanying datasets can be found in the article series here. Our analysis goes back to May 2020, which can be found in this dataset.
We do not currently hold data on recovery rates directly. We are working on producing analysis which will be published as soon as available on clearance times. This analysis will provide insight into the time taken for people to swab negative on an RT-PCR test after having initially tested positive and can be a useful indication of the timeline of the infection.
As such, the information you have requested is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
Please note the analysis mentioned in this response is from our survey. Public Health England (PHE) are responsible for the daily publication of confirmed cases and deaths, which can be found on the Government COVID-19 dashboard.