England's Infectious Rate Doubled Since September

The Imperial College of London reported today results from swab tests taken at home by over 100,000 people in England between 19 October and 5 November showed that 1.57% of people were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

This data is almost twice as high as reported in September 2021.

Furthermore, school-aged children had the highest infection prevalence at 5.21% for 13-17-year-olds and 4.95% for those aged 5-12.

However, the study also found that vaccination was helping to reduce virus spread among children.

Those aged 12-17 who had received a single Comirnaty vaccine dose had around a 56% lower infection risk than unvaccinated children.

"It is possible that the prevalence rate could rise once again now that children have returned to school following half-term," stated Prof Paul Elliott, School of Public Health, Imperial, in a press release.

The study also looked at the effectiveness of booster doses in preventing infection.

The risk of infection was around three times lower in those who had received the third 'booster' dose than those who received two.

For those aged 50 and above, having a third dose reduced the infection risk by around half compared to two doses.

These findings are from the ongoing REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission program, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care. Data are continually reported to the Government to inform decision-making.