Wales has the lowest Covid infection rate of any country in the UK, latest figures have revealed. New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that around 108,800 people in Wales had the virus in week ending July 25, equating to 3.58% of the population or around one in 30 people - a significant drop from the one in 19 recorded the previous week.
Across the UK Covid-19 infections have fallen for the second week in a row, adding further weight behind suggestions that the current wave of the virus has peaked. A total of 2.6 million people in private households in the UK were estimated to have had coronavirus in the most recent reporting week, down 19% from 3.2 million in the previous week.
Some 2.1 million people in England were likely to have tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to July 26, the equivalent of around one in 25, the ONS said. This is down from 2.6 million, or one in 20, a week earlier. In Scotland, 260,800 people were estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to July 26, or around one in 20. This is down slightly from 272,000, or one in 19.
Northern Ireland is the only UK nation where the ONS describes the trend as "uncertain". Infections there have dropped very slightly to 109,800, or one in 17, down from 113,400, or one in 16.
Dr Rhiannon Yapp, co-lead for the ONS Covid-19 infection survey, said: "Our most recent data suggests that infection rates have continued to decrease across much of the UK, although rates still remain high. We have seen continued decreases in all regions and age groups in England. With the summer holidays and more people travelling, we will continue to closely monitor the data."
The latest wave has been driven by the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the virus and saw weekly infections climb as high as 3.8 million in early July. This was not as steep as the record 4.9 million infections at the peak of the Omicron BA.2 wave in late March, however.
High levels of coronavirus antibodies among the population - either from vaccination or previous infection - mean the number of people seriously ill or dying from the virus remains low.
The ONS infection survey is the most reliable measure of the prevalence of Covid-19 but will not be published this Friday due to a change in the way the data is collected. The survey has previously been based on a sample of swab tests collected in person from households across the UK.
Participants in the survey will now have to return their swab tests by post, as well as complete a form online. The ONS said it needs to carry out final checks next week before results from this new method are released for the first time.
Separate figures show the number of people in hospital who have tested positive for Covid-19 is continuing to fall. In Wales, on August 4 there were 758 Covid-positive patients in general and acute beds - down from 774 the week before. There are also just 14 patients taking up invasive ventilated beds in intensive care - down from 19 the week before. Just 48 patients are being actively treated for the virus in acute Welsh hospitals., which 11 less than seven days earlier.
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