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Community coronavirus infection rates have fallen further in the UK, the latest figures show.
Boris Johnson is likely to study carefully the estimates released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as he prepares to set out his “roadmap” for lifting the lockdown in England next week.
The data showed that about one in 115 people in private homes nationwide had COVID-19 between February 6 and 12, compared with about one in 80 the week before.
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It is the lowest figure since the week until December 5, when the estimate also stood at one in every 115 people.
In Wales, around one in 125 people are estimated to have had COVID-19 in the week to February 12, down from the ONS’s previous estimate of one in 85 during the previous seven days.
In Northern Ireland, ONS estimates over the same period around one in 105 people had COVID-19, compared to one in 75.
The estimate for Scotland is one in 180 people, compared to one in 150.
The ONS data confirms this week’s findings from Imperial College London’s licensed REACT study, which showed infections will decline rapidly in England.
North West England had the highest proportion of people of any region in England likely to test positive for coronavirus, the ONS said.
It was estimated that around one in 85 people in private homes in the region had COVID-19 in the week ending February 12.
For London the estimate was one in 100, and for the West Midlands it was one in 110.
The other estimates were one in 120 people for the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber; one in 125 people for the east of England; and one in 135 for the northeast, southeast and southwest.
