Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey headline results, UK: 1 June 2022

This week we are publishing our headline results two days early because of the Jubilee bank holidays. We will next publish our usual, full weekly bulletin on Friday 10 June 2022. These early estimates are provisional and are subject to change as we receive more data, but they have undergone sufficient quality assurance to ensure that they are based upon an acceptable number of test results received up to the end of the reference week. This week, we are publishing estimates for the week ending 27 May 2022 for England and 28 May 2022 for Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.

• In England, the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) continued to decrease in the week ending 27 May 2022; the estimated number of people testing positive for COVID-19 was 784,100 (95% credible interval: 735,800 to 832,700), equating to 1.44% of the population or around 1 in 70 people.

• In Wales, the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 continued to decrease in the week ending 28 May 2022; the estimated number of people testing positive for COVID-19 was 39,600 (95% credible interval: 29,400 to 52,000), equating to 1.30% of the population or around 1 in 75 people.

• In Northern Ireland, the trend in the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 was uncertain in the week ending 28 May 2022; the estimated number of people testing positive for COVID-19 was 24,300 (95% credible interval: 17,300 to 33,200), equating to 1.33% of the population or around 1 in 75 people.

• In Scotland, the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 decreased in the week ending 28 May 2022; the estimated number of people testing positive for COVID-19 was 105,900 (95% credible interval: 87,600 to 126,100), equating to 2.01% of the population or around 1 in 50 people.

• In England, the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 decreased in Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands, the East of England, the South East and the South West, and the trend was uncertain in the North West, the North East, the West Midlands and London, in the week ending 27 May 2022.

• In England, the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 decreased in all age groups except those aged 2 years to school Year 6, those aged 25 to 34 years and those aged 70 years and over for whom the trend was uncertain, in the week ending 27 May 2022.

Figure 1: The percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 decreased in England, Wales and Scotland, and the trend was uncertain in Northern Ireland

Estimated percentage of the population testing positive for COVID-19 on nose and throat swabs, UK, 30 May 2021 to 28 May 2022

Notes:

1. Modelled results are provisional and subject to revision.
2. These statistics refer to infections occurring in private households, and exclude infections reported in hospitals, care homes and/or other communal establishments.
3. Official reported estimates are plotted at a reference point believed to be most representative of the given week.
4. Official estimates present the best estimate at that point in time. Modelled estimates are used to calculate the official reported estimate. The model smooths the series to understand the trend and is revised each week to incorporate new test results, providing the best indication of trend over time.
5. Official estimates are displayed over a rolling year up to the most recent week. The full time series of our official estimates from 27 April 2020 onwards are available in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey datasets.
6. This week, the reference week is 21 to 27 May 2022 for England, and 22 to 28 May 2022 for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Download the data

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Age groups for children and young people

• "Aged 2 years to school Year 6" includes children in primary school and below

• "school Year 7 to school Year 11" includes children in secondary school

• "school Year 12 to those aged 24 years" includes young adults who may be in further or higher education

Those aged from 11 to 12 years and those aged 16 to 17 years have been split between different age categories depending on whether their birthday is before or after 1 September.

Credible interval

A credible interval gives an indication of the uncertainty of an estimate from data analysis. The 95% credible intervals are calculated so that there is a 95% probability of the true value lying in the interval.

Reference dates

This week, the reference week is 21 to 27 May 2022 for England, and 22 to 28 May 2022 for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The reference day is Tuesday 24 May 2022 for England, and Wednesday 25 May 2022 for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. More information on reference weeks and days can be found in the Measuring the data section of our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, UK: 27 May 2022 bulletin.

Data for a longer time series

A longer time series from earlier data can be found in our main weekly Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey datasets for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Survey fieldwork

Survey fieldwork for the pilot study began in England on 26 April 2020. Fieldwork began on 29 June 2020 in Wales, 26 July 2020 in Northern Ireland, and 21 September 2020 in Scotland. 

Other Coronavirus Infection Survey (CIS) analysis and studies

This study is one of a number of studies that look to provide information around the coronavirus pandemic within the UK. For information on other studies see Section 5: Quality characteristics of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey (Coherence and comparability), revised 16 July 2021.

Quality

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our methods article and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey QMI.