Coronavirus (COVID-19) roundup, 20 to 24 July 2020

This page contains data and analysis published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) from 20 to 24 July 2020. Go to our live page for the most up-to-date insights on COVID-19.

24 July 2020

Following the peak recorded in April 2020, in June 2020 there has been a large decrease in the proportion of deaths involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) across all English regions and Wales, as detailed in the Deaths involving COVID-19 by local area and socioeconomic deprivation release.

London experienced the largest decrease over the period from having more than one in two deaths in April 2020 that involved COVID-19, to only 1 in 20 deaths in June 2020 that were related to COVID-19.

The South West region continued to have the lowest proportion of COVID-19 deaths in June 2020 with fewer than 1 in 30 deaths involving COVID-19, while the North West had the highest where slightly more than one in eight deaths were COVID-19-related.

Taking into account the size and age structure of the population, there were 88.0 deaths involving COVID-19 per 100,000 people in England and Wales over the period March to June 2020.

Between March and June 2020, London had the highest age-standardised mortality rate with 141.8 deaths involving COVID-19 per 100,000 people; this was statistically significantly higher than any other region in England, and nearly one-third (30.2%) higher than the region with the next highest rate (the North West).

Of the 10 local authorities with the highest age-standardised mortality rates for deaths involving COVID-19 over this period, nine were London boroughs; Brent had the highest overall age-standardized rate with 216.6 deaths per 100,000 people.

Rates of deaths involving COVID-19 are also provided by Rural Urban Classification, and by deprivation. In England, the age-standardised mortality rate for deaths involving COVID-19 in the most deprived areas between March and June 2020 was 139.6 deaths per 100,000 people; this was more than double the mortality rate in the least deprived areas (63.4 deaths per 100,000 people).

24 July 2020

The coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread across the vast majority of neighbourhoods in England and Wales. The interactive map allows you to see the number of deaths occurring in the period March to June 2020, where COVID-19 was mentioned as a cause on the death certificate.

The size of the circle represents the number of deaths.

Enter your postcode or interact with the map to see the number of deaths in an area.

Number of deaths involving COVID-19 in Middle Layer Super Output Areas, death occurring between March to June 2020, England and Wales

24 June 2020

Overseas residents made 7 million visits to the UK in Quarter 1 (January to March 2020), a 16% drop compared with the same period last year. This is attributed to a reduction in travel because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In January and February, there were more visits made from overseas to the UK than in the same period last year: visits in January increased by 7% to 3.0 million, while visits in February increased by 6% to 2.5 million. However, in March, the first month where travel was seriously affected by the coronavirus, overseas residents made 1.4 million visits to the UK, a 54% drop compared with March 2019.

UK residents made 13.9 million visits abroad in Quarter 1 2020, which was 24% fewer than in the same period in 2019. In March, UK residents made 3.2 million overseas trips, a drop of 50% compared with the same time last year.

Although March is the first month where travel was severely disrupted because of the coronavirus, trips abroad by UK residents in January and February were lower than in the same period last year, too. Overseas visits in January decreased by 12% to 5.4 million, while visits in February decreased by 6% to 5.2 million.

Note: Data collection on the International Passenger Survey was suspended on 16 March. This means that collection was incomplete, and results for March and Quarter 1 should therefore be treated with caution.

24 July 2020

The volume of retail sales in Great Britain increased by 13.9% when compared with May 2020 as non-food and fuel stores continue their recovery from the sharp falls experienced since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

There is a mixed picture in different store types.

In June, while non-food stores and fuel sales show strong monthly growths in the volume of sales at 45.5% and 21.5% respectively, levels have still not recovered from the sharp falls experienced in March and April.

Food stores and non-store retailing both reached new high levels since the start of the pandemic. The non-store retailing sector is at a historically high level, with the benefit of continued trade for many online stores while social distancing measures were in place.

The amount of money spent online has increased at a fast pace since before lockdown, increasing by 61.9% in June 2020 when compared with February 2020.

Average weekly spending for online retailing has increased for all main stores. Feedback from non-food stores retailers had suggested that lockdown measures had encouraged them to diversify and trade online during lockdown.

23 July 2020

At the start of the UK lockdown clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people were advised to shield from people they do not live with. The latest figures show fewer people report following the shielding advice completely.

Between 24 June and 30 June 2020, 58% of CEV people said they were following the shielding advice completely. This is a significant drop from the 63% of CEV people who said the same between 9 June and 18 June 2020. The data show older CEV people are more likely to follow the shielding guidance completely compared with younger CEV people.

There has also been a significant decrease in the percentage of CEV people receiving no visitors (except for support with personal care), from 83% to 77%.

The age groups of CEV people most likely to be furloughed are 50 to 59 years (42%) and 60 to 69 years (48%).

The Shielding Behavioural Survey asks CEV people about their well-being, too. Fewer CEV people aged over 70 years report experiencing a worsening in their mental health compared with those aged between 20 and 69 years.

More CEV people in the 40 to 49 years and 50 to 59 years age groups reported a worsening in their physical health than other age groups.

Those shielding between the ages of 50 and 59 years seem to be disproportionately affected during the coronavirus pandemic, reporting a lower life satisfaction, a worsening in physical and mental health than older and younger age groups and are among the most likely to be furloughed. This is a pattern usually seen among 20- to 29-year-olds when looking at the overall population.

22 July 2020

Parents have been fitting their work around their childcare commitments, because of the changes to their daily lives brought about by lockdown.

Analysis has shown that those who have been able to work under lockdown were more likely to do so during the morning and at night.

Those who worked from home gave developmental childcare, such as helping with homework, throughout the day but there were peaks of activity around noon, 4pm and 8pm. Those working away from home showed a peak of developmental childcare activity at around late afternoon.

Parents have changed their weekday working patterns because of childcare commitments

Percentage of group who were working at time of the day (weekdays only) in Great Britain, 2020

The analysis also showed that during the first few weeks of lockdown (28 March to 26 April, 2020) women were carrying out two-thirds more of the childcare duties per day than men.

Women delivered 3 hours and 18 minutes while men contributed two hours.

This gender difference was mostly driven by the extra time women spent in carrying out non-developmental childcare such as washing, dressing and feeding children.

22 July 2020

Between 7 May and 7 June 2020, the majority of parents (87%) said a child in their household had been homeschooled in the previous week because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

On average, children completed 13 hours of learning in the previous week. However, children completed fewer hours of schoolwork on average if they were living with a very young sibling (aged 0 to 4 years).

Overall, more than half (52%) of parents with a school-aged child in their household said they were struggling to continue their education while at home, with lack of motivation most commonly cited as a contributing factor.

Parents who had a child aged 0 to 4 years and one or more school-aged children were significantly more likely than those without young children to say that their eldest child was struggling because of caring or monitoring responsibilities for younger children (39% compared with 7%), or a lack of quiet space for studying (41% compared with 13%).

Meanwhile, older children aged 16 to 18 years – who are more likely to be able to learn on their own (without help from their parents) – were asked about homeschooling directly. Over half (53%) said they were struggling to continue their education while at home. Their most common reasons for struggling were the same as those given by parents: lack of motivation and lack of guidance and support.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of older children said they were concerned that their future life plans will be negatively affected by continuing their education at home.

21 July 2020

Analysis of the jobs that might more easily adapt to remote working has shown that employees in higher-paying jobs are more likely to be able to work from home.

Chief executives and senior officials, whose median hourly earnings are £44.08, are among those most able to work remotely, as are financial managers and directors (£31.38) and programmers and software development professionals (£21.97).

In contrast, gardeners, whose median hourly earnings are £10.27, are very unlikely to be able to work from home, as are carpenters and joiners (£13.18) and elementary construction occupations like labourers (£10.25).

Jobs that earn higher hourly wages are more likely to be adaptable to working from home

The analysis used data from a US jobs survey to identify the main characteristics associated with not being able to work remotely, which included the amount of face-to-face interaction required in the role, and the use of specialist tools and equipment.

The jobs least likely to be able to be carried out from home are mostly done by men. When looking at the fifth of workers in jobs least likely to be able to work from home, 75% are men. Men make up 48% of the whole workforce.

Workers least likely to be able to work from home are mostly men

21 July 2020

Today’s public sector finance figures reflect the ongoing unprecedented impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown and the government’s support for individuals and businesses.

Provisional estimates indicate borrowing in the first quarter of the current financial year (April to June 2020) reached £127.9 billion, more than double the £55.4 billion borrowed in the whole of the last full financial year (April 2019 to March 2020).

Borrowing in June 2020 was provisionally estimated to be £35.5 billion, roughly five times that of June 2019 but around £10 billion less than market expectation.

Tax receipts and National Insurance contributions (on a national accounts basis) were down by 20% on June 2019, while central government spending increased by 25% over the same period.

Borrowing estimates are subject to greater than usual uncertainty because of their partial reliance on forecast data, with May 2020 being revised down by £9.8 billion to £45.5 billion, largely as a result of stronger than previously estimated tax receipts and National Insurance contributions.

The need for the extra funding required to support the government’s coronavirus relief schemes combined with a fall in gross domestic product (GDP) pushed debt at the end of June 2020 to 99.6% of GDP.

Estimates of GDP used to create this ratio are partly based on provisional data and official estimates and are subject to greater than usual uncertainty. Since our previous publication (19 June 2020), our GDP estimates have increased, reflecting the latest published data and leading to the debt ratio at the end of May 2020 falling from 100.9% to 96.9%.

Today’s data highlight the emerging fiscal impact of the coronavirus crisis but will be prone to material future revisions, and it will take many months before the true scale of the shock becomes clear.

20 July 2020

We have published a subnational ageing tool that allows you to compare the age profile of the population in different areas.

The tool also includes measures of older people living alone and the employment status of older people.

You can compare the measures across local authorities, regions and countries in the UK.