Covid infections continue to decline from Christmas peak

Covid-19 infections in Wales have continued to fall following a spike over the Christmas period.

Latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics estimate 121,600 people tested positive for the virus in the seven days ending 10 January, a fall of 22.5% from the previous week.

This equates to 3.94% of the population, a decrease from 5.16% in the previous week, or around 1 in 25 people.

The number of people with the virus jumped 200% In the seven days up to 28 December but declined by more than 9% the following week.

Infections have also fallen sharply across the rest of the UK in a fresh sign the current wave has peaked.

The number of patients in hospital with the virus is also continuing to drop.

A total of 1.8 million people in private households in the UK were likely to test positive for coronavirus in the week ending January 10, down 32% from 2.7 million at the start of the month, according to the ONS.

Prevalence of Covid-19 is lowest in England, with about one in 40 people estimated to have the virus.

In Northern Ireland the estimate is one in 25, while for Scotland it is one in 30.

Sizeable decrease

Michelle Bowen, ONS head of health surveillance, said there had been a “sizeable decrease in Covid-19 positivity” across the UK.

She added: “That is a positive sign, though we must remain cautious as overall rates remain high.

“Also, it is still too early to see fully the potential impact of the return of schools. We will continue to monitor the data closely.”

The latest wave of Covid-19 looks to have peaked at 3.0 million infections in the UK in the week to December 28.

This is below the levels reached in previous outbreaks.

Infections climbed as high as 4.3 million last winter during the spread of the Omicron variant, but this was topped a few months later during the wave caused by the Omicron BA.2/3 subvariants, when infections reached a record 4.9 million.