Coronavirus (COVID-19) roundup

Headline figures

• The number of deaths involving COVID-19 registered in England and Wales in the week ending 11 September 2020 (Week 37) was 99 (1.0% of all deaths in that week). Analysis | Data
• The percentage of adults in Great Britain that said their well-being was being affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was 39% between 9 and 13 September 2020. Analysis | Data
• The percentage of businesses that had been trading for more than the previous two weeks was 95% between 7 and 16 September 2020 (a further 1% had restarted in the last two weeks, 4% remained temporarily closed). Analysis | Data
• An estimated 59,800 people in the community in England had COVID-19 between 4 September and 10 September 2020 (0.11% of the community population). Analysis | Data
• Monthly gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.6% in July 2020 but is 11.7% lower than the February 2020 level. Analysis | Data
• The UK unemployment rate for the three months to July 2020 was 4.1%; this is 0.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier and 0.2 percentage points higher than the previous quarter. Analysis | Data
• In August 2020, retail sales volumes increased by 0.8% when compared with July; this is the fourth consecutive month of growth, resulting in an increase of 4.0% when compared with February’s pre-pandemic level. Analysis | Data

This page is a summary of insights from our most recent analysis and will be updated as new publications are released.

Sign up to our email alerts for daily updates in your inbox, or view analysis by theme in our roundups of deaths and health, the economy and the social impacts of COVID-19.

This page was last updated at 09:30 on 23 September 2020.

23 September 2020

Diary of a nation: life in lockdown

Six months ago, lockdown measures were introduced in Great Britain to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and throughout this time, we have been asking people about their opinions and behaviours.

We have now presented people’s experiences in their own words, capturing how people across the country have been coping with the many changes brought about by the pandemic.

In March, more than half of adults said they thought life would be back to normal within six months. However, when the same question was posed to people in August, “more than a year” was the most popular response, with over a third (37%) of adults saying they thought this is how long the pandemic would last.

The uncertainty people faced was clear to see in the survey’s free text responses, which we now present for the first time. One person said their life was “on hold” during self-isolation, while another said they lacked “any idea about when and how things might ‘return to normal’”.

Following five months of restrictions, and the end of the pandemic still not in sight, a third of adults said they felt COVID-19 was the most important issue facing Britain. However, others have expressed positive outcomes from the last six months, such as one respondent who said they “appreciate the little things that matter more” and another who said they were enjoying a “more thoughtful and engaging lifestyle”.

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22 September 2020

Deaths involving COVID-19

Up to 11 September 2020, there were 52,482 deaths registered in England and Wales involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) (28,883 men and 23,599 women).

The majority of deaths involving COVID-19 have been among people aged 65 years and over (46,874 out of 52,482).

Our data are based on deaths registered in England and Wales and include all deaths where “COVID-19” was mentioned on death certificates. We have published a summary of where you can find data on COVID-19 infection rates and deaths for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The total number of deaths in the week ending 11 September 2020 (Week 37) was 9,811, above the five-year average and the highest weekly total since the week ending 12 June (Week 24).

The number of deaths involving COVID-19 increased compared with the previous week, the first week-on-week rise since the peak of the pandemic (week ending 17 April). However, registrations were lower than usual in the previous week because of the August Bank Holiday.

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22 September 2020

Deaths involving COVID-19 by occupation

Among men working in health care and social care, the rate of death involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) was around 3.2 times higher in those who likely acquired the virus before lockdown than those who likely acquired the virus during lockdown.

Between 9 March and 30 June 2020, prior to the widespread easing of lockdown restrictions, 5,330 deaths involving COVID-19 in the working age population (those aged 20 to 64 years) of England and Wales were registered. 72.0% of the total number (3,839 deaths) were likely to be a result of an infection acquired before lockdown on 23 March. Occupation information is available on the death certificate.

Our analysis shows that mortality rates for both sexes during lockdown were generally half those seen before lockdown for all major occupation groups. Despite this, some groups of occupations continued to have high rates of death involving COVID-19 across the entire period, when compared to rates in the population.

Among men, four out of the nine major occupation groups had higher rates of death involving COVID-19 in the before and during lockdown groups, compared with rates among those of the same age and sex in the population (elementary occupations; caring, leisure and other service occupations; process, plant and machine operatives; and skilled trades occupations).

Among women, only those working in the caring, leisure and other service occupations had higher rates of death involving COVID-19 in the before and during lockdown groups. People working in the health and social care sector are recorded in a wide range of occupational groups. Men working in health and social care experienced rates of death involving COVID-19 that were three times higher in the before lockdown group than the during lockdown group. For women, only social care workers had elevated rates in the before lockdown group.

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18 September 2020

COVID-19 infection survey

The number of people in England who have tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) has increased in recent weeks.

An estimated 59,800 people within the community population in England had COVID-19 during the latest week, from 4 to 10 September 2020, equating to around 1 in 900 people.

Younger age groups have seen the greatest increase in infection rates, particularly those aged 2 to 11, 17 to 24 and 25 to 34 years.

We estimate that the number of new cases of COVID-19 has also increased across the community population as a whole.

Between 4 to 10 September 2020, there were around 1.10 new COVID-19 infections for every 10,000 people per day in the community population in England, equating to around 6,000 new cases per day.

These figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings.

Our estimates show that 1,500 people in Wales had COVID-19 during the same period, which is around 1 in 2,000 people. Read our Coronavirus infection survey bulletin for more information.

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18 September 2020

Retail sales up 4.0% compared with pre-pandemic levels

Retail sales volumes (the amount of goods bought) continued to increase in August 2020, with levels up 0.8% compared with July and up 4.0% compared with February’s pre-pandemic level. Retail sales values (the amount spent) were also up in August, increasing 0.7% on July and 2.5% compared with February.

When compared with the previous three months, a stronger rate of growth was seen in the three months to August, at 16.4% and 16.7% for value and volume sales respectively. Strong growth was seen here because of large monthly increases in June and July when compared with the sharp falls experienced over lockdown in March and April.

Despite total levels of retail sales increasing to above pre-pandemic levels, there was a mixed picture within each sector as not all stores experienced this bounce back: non-store retailing volumes were 38.9% higher than in February, and sales volumes in household goods stores up 9.9% in the same time frame, mainly because of increased sales for home improvement items.

In contrast, all non-food stores experienced a sharp decline in sales due to lockdown, and clothing stores’ August retailing volumes were still 15.9% below pre-pandemic levels. Online sales values decreased 2.5% from July. This slight decline may be because of many businesses reopening from July, resulting in less online spending in August. Other parts of the economy reopened, such as restaurants and bars, which may have impacted sales within food stores as online sales fell by 4.6% in August.

However, the strong growth experienced over the pandemic has meant that online sales were still 46.8% higher than February’s pre-pandemic levels.

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18 September 2020

Deaths involving COVID-19 by disability status

Disabled people (those limited a little and those limited a lot in their day-to-day activities by a long-term health problem or disability) aged nine years and over made up almost 6 out of 10 COVID-19 deaths in England and Wales between 2 March and 14 July 2020. Amongst COVID-19 related deaths of females aged 65 years and over, the proportion made up by disabled people was largest, accounting for 67% of the total.

Our analysis shows that males and females aged 9 years and over who were disabled had higher age-standardised mortality rates (ASMR) than those who were non-disabled.

Males who were disabled and limited a lot in their day-to-day activities had an overall age-standardised COVID-19 mortality rate of 240.8 deaths per 100,000 (non-disabled: 84.2 deaths per 100,000). Females who were disabled had an age-standardised COVID-19 mortality rate of 169.9 deaths per 100,000 (non-disabled: 44.4 deaths per 100,000).

The relative gaps in ASMRs between disabled and non-disabled males and females were largest amongst those aged 9 to 64 years. Mortality rates for those aged 9 to 64 years who were disabled and limited a lot in their day-to-day activities were 10.8 times greater for females and 6.5 times greater for males, than for non-disabled people in the same age and sex group.

Adjusting for age, socio-demographic, geographic and household characteristics reduced the relative difference in mortality rates between the disabled and non-disabled. The relative difference in mortality rates between those who were disabled and limited a lot in their day-to-day activities and those non-disabled was 2.4 times higher for females and 2.0 times higher for males.

Males aged 65 years and over who were disabled and limited a lot had the highest age-standardised COVID-19 mortality rate at 860.8 per 100,000

Age-standardised mortality rates for deaths involving COVID-19, by sex, age group and disability status, England and Wales, 2 March to 14 July 2020

Notes:

1. Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures based on death registrations up to 21 July 2020 that occurred between 2 March and 14 July 2020 that could be linked to the 2011 Census for the coronavirus (COVID-19) rate of death.
2. Deaths were defined using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10). Deaths involving COVID-19 include those with an underlying cause, or any mention, of ICD-10 codes U07.1 (COVID-19, virus identified) or U07.2 (COVID-19, virus not identified).
3. Age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) of COVID-19-related death can be interpreted as deaths per 100,000 population during the period of investigation.
4. Non-overlapping error bars denote a statistically significant difference in rates of death.
5. Disability status was defined using the self-reported answers to the 2011 Census question; “Are your day-to-day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months? - Include problems related to old age” (Yes, limited a lot; Yes, limited a little; and No).

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18 September 2020

Monthly mortality analysis August 2020

There were 34,750 deaths registered in England in August 2020, 2,060 deaths fewer than August’s five-year average; in Wales, 2,379 deaths were registered, 116 deaths fewer than the five-year average for August.

Our analysis of provisional death registration data in England and Wales in August 2020, shows that there were 34,750 deaths registered in England, 2,060 deaths fewer than August’s five-year average. In Wales, 2,379 deaths were registered, 116 deaths fewer than the five-year average for August.

The leading cause of death in England in August was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (10.9% of all deaths) and ischaemic heart disease in Wales (11.0% of all deaths). Both leading causes were the same in July 2020.

Of the 34,750 deaths registered in August 2020 in England, 1.4% (482 deaths) involved the coronavirus (COVID-19). In Wales, 2.2% of the 2,379 deaths registered in August involved COVID-19 (52 deaths).

Age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) are used for comparisons over time rather than numbers of deaths, as ASMRs account for changes to the population size and age structure. Since August 2001, overall mortality rates in England for the month of August have been decreasing. In August 2020, the mortality rate for males was 869.3 deaths per 100,000 (compared with 1,378.5 in August 2001) and 641.8 deaths per 100,000 for females (compared with 920.3 in August 2001).

Mortality rates in Wales show a similar pattern over time. In August 2020 in Wales, the mortality rate was 937.2 deaths per 100,000 for males (1,379.4 in August 2001) and 746.4 deaths per 100,000 for females (982.8 in August 2001).

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18 September 2020

Levels of socialising in the UK have decreased

Levels of socialising, eating out and travel in the UK have decreased after gradually increasing throughout the summer months.

Our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) this week looks at the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on British society between 9 and 13 September.

For the first time since the survey began, the percentage of working adults travelling to a place of work (either exclusively or in combination with working from home) rose above 60% to 62% this week.

This rise was driven by a fall in the percentage of working adults that had neither worked from home nor travelled to a place of work in the past seven days for reasons such as being furloughed, their business was temporarily closed, they were on annual leave or unable to work because of caring responsibilities. This likely reflects the end of summer holidays and schools re-opening.

When asked about how many people they had socialised with , 57% of adults said that they had socialised with one to five adults from outside their household at the same time this week, while 13% said that they had socialised with six or more people at a time.

When visiting indoor public places such as restaurants or hairdressers, 31% of adults were asked every time they went out to provide their personal details for contact tracing purposes, but 26% said they were not asked by any establishments during the week. Of those who did get asked for their details, 69% said that they gave their details every time but 11% rarely or never chose to do so.

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17 September 2020

Travelling to work and online job adverts

The latest indicators for the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the UK society and economy have been published. The experimental data from the Business Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Survey (BICS) show that 10% of the UK workforce remain on furlough leave while 11% of businesses were at moderate to severe risk of insolvency.

For the first time since the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) started, the number of adults travelling to a place of work rose above 60% to 62%. Those who were not working from home or travelling to a place of work fell from 23% to 18%, suggesting that more people are working again. Meanwhile, the proportion of adults shopping for essentials rose to 74%, which is the highest percentage seen since June.

In the latest week, every region and country of the UK apart from Yorkshire and The Humber saw online job adverts increase, with the overall volume of job adverts increasing from 50% to 53% of last year’s average. In particular, adverts in the information technology, computing and software category rose by seven percentage points to 64% of their 2019 average.

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16 September 2020

Average house prices continued to rise in June 2020

The UK’s average house prices increased by 3.4%, to £238,000, over the year to June 2020, up from 1.1% in May 2020; this is £8,000 higher than last year.

Average house prices increased by 3.5% in England, 2.9% in Scotland and 2.8% in Wales over the year to June 2020. In Northern Ireland, average house prices increased by 3.0% over the year to Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2020.

The accelerated increase may partly reflect the unusual conditions in the housing market during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. People were advised not to move house during the tightest movement restrictions in April and May. As such, property transactions completed during that time may have been more concentrated than usual among those without complicating factors, such as a chain. For example, first-time buyers – typically at the lower end of the price scale – may have been freer to complete transactions than former owner occupiers, who may have had to co-ordinate multiple sales during lockdown.

The increase in prices in June 2020 may therefore reflect some degree of pent-up demand following the easing of lockdown restrictions, particularly at the higher end of the price scale.

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15 September 2020

UK labour market

Our latest figures on the UK labour market have now been published.

Early indicators for August 2020 suggest that the number of employees in the UK on payrolls was down around 695,000 compared with March 2020.

Figures for May to July 2020 show an increase in the unemployment rate; despite this increase and an increase in the number of redundancies, the employment rate was up and the economic inactivity rate has fallen.

Redundancies (the number of people who were made redundant or who took voluntary redundancy in the three months before the Labour Force Survey (LFS) interviews) increased by 58,000 on the year and 48,000 on the quarter to 156,000. While this is the highest level since September to November 2012, the level remained well below that seen during the 2008 downturn.

Over the quarter, there has been a large decrease in the number of young people (those aged 16 to 24 years) in employment while unemployment for young people has increased.

The number of people who are estimated to have been temporarily away from work (including furloughed workers) has fallen, but it was still more than 5 million in July 2020.

Total hours worked was still low but showed some signs of recovery in the three months to July 2020. Over the year, average actual weekly hours fell by 5.8 hours to 26.3 hours in the three months to July 2020. The accommodation and food service activities sector saw the biggest annual fall in average actual weekly hours, down by 15.4 hours to 13.5 hours per week.

Vacancies continued to show increases in the latest period, driven by the smaller businesses, some of which are reporting taking on additional staff to meet coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines.

The Claimant Count, an Experimental Statistic, increased in August 2020, reaching 2.7 million. This includes both those who are working with low income or hours and those who are not working.

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User requested data

We have been responding to data requests from the public, media and government during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Responses are published in our list of user requested data.

Our subnational data page offers advice to anyone doing their own analysis on the impact of the coronavirus. It contains useful links to geographic boundaries and datasets such as population by local area.

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