England’s Covid outbreak grew by 9% last week with one in 70 people infected on any given day

The coronavirus pandemic continued to grow in England last week, with one in 70 people testing positive for the virus, official figures show.

Some 756,900 people had Covid on any given day in the week leading up to August 20, a jump of nine per cent compared to the 698,100 figure seven days earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Across England, 1.39 per cent of people had Covid, but as many as 1.8 per cent of people tested positive in the worst-hit parts of the country.

Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West, London and the East Midlands all had infection rates higher than the national average.

And up to 3.5 per cent of school-aged children had the virus, amid fears that cases will surge as children head back to the classroom in England and Wales next week.

Covid cases in Scotland more than doubled last week after lessons resumed, leading First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to warn there would be another lockdown if hospital admissions followed the same trend.

Experts warned MailOnline that the countries south of the border should expect to see a similar spike. 

The proportion of people testing positive for Covid remained the same and continued to be highest in Yorkshire and the Humber (1.8 per cent) and the North West (1.6 per cent).

In London, 1.5 per cent of people were infected in the most recent week, compared to 1.4 per cent one week earlier.

Cases were also on the rise in the East Midlands (1.4 per cent), the South East (1.3 per cent) and West Midlands (to 1.3 per cent).

Meanwhile, infection levels stayed static in the North East (1.3 per cent) and dropped in the East of England (1.2 per cent) and the South West (0.9 per cent).

When modelling the level of Covid-19 infections among different age ranges in England, the ONS said rates have increased for those from school year 12 to age 24 and for 50 to 69-year-olds, with early signs of an increase for those aged 70 and over.

There was a decrease for those aged between two and school year six, and for those aged 25 to 34.

The trend is uncertain for all other age groups.

Around one in 30 people from school year 12 to age 24 are estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to August 20: the highest positivity rate for any age group.

Source: Daily Mail