Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights 26 November 2021

ONS published the latest data on infections in Northern Ireland and Scotland, excess winter deaths and self-isolation.

• Infections increased in Northern Ireland and Scotland in the week ending 20 November 2021, with 1 in 50 and 1 in 70 people testing positive for COVID-19 respectively.

  • The trends were uncertain in England and Wales in the most recent week.

• A sixfold increase in excess winter deaths in England and Wales in 2020 to 2021 was mostly driven by the timings of coronavirus (COVID-19) fatalities.

  • The majority of these COVID deaths happened in the non-winter months of 2020 (April to July) and winter months of 2021 (December 2020 to March 2021). This contributes to the unusually high estimated excess winter deaths of 63,000 in the latest winter; 6.1 times higher than winter 2019 to 2020, which saw an unusually low number of 10,320 excess winter deaths.

• Around three quarters (75%) of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 fully adhered to isolation requirements throughout the full self-isolation period, according to data collected between 1 and 6 November 2021.

  • This has remained stable since June but is a decrease from 86% in May 2021.

Read the latest insights