File image of people wearing face masks walking past a shop window in London, UK. December 20, 2020. REUTERS / Toby Melville reuters_tickers
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–This content was published on 24 December 2020 – 14:02
LONDON, Dec 24 (Reuters) – The prevalence of COVID-19 cases in England rose again in the week ended Dec. 18, with an estimated 645,800 people – 1 out of 85 – infected, the National Office for Statistics (ONS).
“The percentage of people who tested positive has continued to increase dramatically in London, the East of England and the South East; London now has the highest percentage of people who test positive,” said the ONS.
The prevalence in the previous week was 1 in 95, according to the ONS.
For its part, England’s Testing and Tracking service said separately on Thursday that it recorded a 58% weekly increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases detected.
As indicated, in the week of December 10 to 16, 139,332 positive cases were transferred to their contact tracers, 88.1% of which were contacted and told to self-isolate, a slight increase from 87.5 % from the previous week.
The proportion of contacts of positive cases reached remained constant at 92.6%, he said.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; edited in Spanish by Gabriela Donoso)
