Coronavirus (COVID-19) roundup: 23 October 2020

ONS have published new figures on retail sales in Great Britain, the latest monthly mortality analysis of provisional death registration data in England and Wales, and the most recent findings from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey and the Opinion and Lifestyle Survey.

The main points include:

• The number of people with the coronavirus in England has risen to around 433,000 in the most recent week, or around 1 in 130 people

• There has been growth in COVID-19 infection rates in all age groups in England over the past two weeks, with the current rates highest in older teenagers and young adults

• Local lockdowns impacted socialising indoors this week as 17% of those in local lockdown areas reported not meeting up with anyone from another household indoors, compared with 11% of those not in local lockdown

• Of those who had met up with any number of people indoors from another household, 84% said they always or often maintained social distancing

• Retail sales volumes increased by 1.5% in September 2020 compared with August; this is the fifth consecutive month of growth, resulting in an increase of 5.5% when compared with February’s pre-pandemic level

• While non-food store sales have seen an increase, fuel and clothing sales are still below their February level, as fewer people travel to work

• Mortality rates for deaths in September 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) have increased for the first time since the peak in April 2020

• The coronavirus (COVID-19) did not feature in the top 10 leading causes of death in September 2020, neither in England nor in Wales

Read the ONS roundup