The latest figures released today show that the South West has the lowest number of people in any English region, who would have tested positive for coronavirus by mid-January in England.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Covid-19 Infection Survey shows that 15.3%, or 1 in 7 of the English population would have tested positive antibodies of the virus.
Data obtained from blood studies taken in the 28 days up to January 18th places the South West at 8.3%, with the South East next on the list at 10.2%.
London has the highest level – 21% – closely followed by the West Midlands (18.8%) and Yorkshire and The Humber (18.7%).
The ONS said: “There is substantial variation in antibody positivity between regions, from 21.0% (95% confidence interval: 19.3% to 22.8%) in London compared with 8.3% (95% confidence interval: 6.9% to 9.9%) in the South West.
“The populations in the south and east of England have positivity rates below the England national average.
“Confidence intervals are large for some regions indicating high uncertainty in those estimates but there is still evidence of differences in the percentage of people testing positive for antibodies between regions.”
The data does not include people in care homes, hospitals or other institutions.
The positivity rate is the percentage of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 at a point in time and allows the ONS to estimating the number of current positive cases in the community, including cases where people do not report having any symptoms.
