Wales continues to see record Covid infection levels – with one in 13 infected, according to the ONS

Wales continues to see record Covid infection levels, with one in 13 now with the virus.

The estimate is up from 212,000 people, or one in 14, to 230,800 people, or one in 13, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Self-isolation rules were scrapped in Wales on March 28, and all PCR testing sites in Wales closed on March 31.

The First Minister defended the moves at the time, saying that while they were seeing a “very rapid rise in the number of people falling ill in Wales”, saying that “we can’t rely forever on the law”.

“So while we are seeing more people in hospital with Coronavirus, we’re not seeing anything like the same rise in a number of people in hospital because of Coronavrrus,” Mark Drakeford said.

Only Scotland saw a clear week-on-week drop in numbers, from the week to March 26, with England also maintaining a new record in infections.

Some 396,800 people were estimated to have had the virus in Scotland last week, or around one in 13. This is down from 451,200 people, or one in 12, the previous week.

In Northern Ireland, the ONS described the trend as “uncertain”, with 113,900 people likely to have had Covid-19 last week, or one in 16: down from 123,000 people, or one in 15.

Sarah Crofts, head of analytical outputs for the ONS Covid survey, said: “While infections remain high, there are early signs in our latest data that they may no longer be increasing in some parts of the UK.

“Across English regions, there is a mixed picture in trends and we have seen a welcome decrease in Scotland.

“However, rates in Wales continue to rise and the trend in Northern Ireland is uncertain.

“It is too early to say if infections have peaked in England and Scotland. We will continue to monitor the data closely.”

‘Frank’

Earlier today Boris Johnson told GB News that he could not rule out another Covid lockdown in England.

“I want to avoid any such thing ever happening again and I can’t rule out something, I can’t say we wouldn’t be forced to do non-pharmaceutical interventions again of the kind we did,” he said.

“I think it would be irresponsible of any leader in any democracy to say that they’re going to rule out something that can save lives.

“I believe the things we did saved lives. I’ve got to be absolutely frank with you, there could be a new variant more deadly, there could be a variant that affects children, that we really need to contain, I’m not going to take any options off the table. But I don’t think it will happen.

“We’re now in the phase where the virus is losing its potency overall and we’ve got a massively vaccinated UK population.”

The percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 in England has increased among those from school year 12 to age 34, and for people aged 70 and over, the ONS said.