Guidance

Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK

The latest number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk level in the UK.

Published 24 January 2020
Last updated 30 April 2020 — see all updates
From:
Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England

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Number of cases and deaths

As of 9am on 30 April, there have been 901,905 tests, with 81,611 tests on 29 April.

687,369 people have been tested, of whom 171,253 have tested positive.

As of 5pm on 29 April, of those who tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, 26,771 have died. This new figure includes deaths in all settings, not just in hospitals. The equivalent figure under the old measure would have been 22,791.

Tests People tested Positive Deaths
Daily 81,611 54,575 6,032 674
Total 901,905 687,369 171,253 26,771

Breakdown of testing by 3 of the testing strategy ‘pillars’

Daily

Pillar 1 Pillar 2 Pillar 4 Total
People tested 21,082 33,493 - 54,575
Tests 32,150 48,311 1,150 81,611
Positive 3,059 2,973 - 6,032

Cumulative

Pillar 1 Pillar 2 Pillar 4 Total
People tested 529,143 158,226 - 687,369
Tests 681,371 210,835 9,699 901,905
Positive 143,044 28,209 - 171,253

Pillar 2 breakdown of test types

In-person routes Delivery routes Total tests
Daily (reported 29 April) 30,166 18,145 48,311
Cumulative 146,042 64,793 210,835
  • Pillar 1: swab testing in PHE labs and NHS hospitals for those with a clinical need, and health and care workers
  • Pillar 2: swab testing for health, social care and other essential workers and their households
  • Pillar 4: serology and swab testing: a national surveillance programme supported by PHE, ONS and Biobank to learn more about the prevalence and spread of the virus

See the government’s national testing strategy for more information on the different pillars.

30 April notes

Historic data revisions to number of tests means that the difference in cumulative totals for today and yesterday do not add up to the daily total. There is a difference of 1,755 tests, which is down to 2 revisions:

  • Scotland revised historic cumulative tests up by 2,137
  • test data on kits dispatched to care homes and number of home test kits processed through the labs has been revised down by 382

Due to technical issues in the reporting of people tested for pillar 1 on 29 April, which have now been resolved through a batch submission, the daily total reported is larger than the daily total reported in previous days.

General notes

Data on UK positive and negative tests and data on deaths is updated on this page daily at 2pm or shortly after. The figures for test results and for deaths are compiled from different sources. This is why the figures for deaths are reported from an earlier point in time than the figures for test results.

For clinical reasons some people are tested more than once. Therefore the number of tests completed will be higher than the number of people tested. For serology testing (pillar 4), some protocols allow for samples to be tested repeatedly. Samples are anonymised prior to sending to the lab for testing, therefore the identification of individuals tested is not possible in the current reporting process, and so the number of people tested is not reported.

Daily totals reflect actual counts reported for the previous day. Each day there may be corrections to previous reported figures. This means that previously published daily counts will not necessarily sum to the latest cumulative figure. It also means that today’s cumulative count may not match the previous day’s cumulative count plus today’s daily count.

The number of tests includes:

  • tests processed through our labs
  • tests sent to individuals at home or to satellite testing locations

Notes on deaths figures

From 29 April, figures for deaths include all cases where there is a positive confirmed test for coronavirus. The figures include deaths with lab-confirmed COVID-19 in all settings, not just those in hospital, and this provides us with a single figure on an equivalent basis for the whole of the UK.

These UK figures are compiled from validated data provided by each of the four nations of the UK. Figures from Health Protection Scotland, Public Health Wales and the Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland) have always included tested cases outside hospital. Figures for England from 29 April onwards are provided by Public Health England and draw together several different data sources, including data from NHS England and Improvement, to produce this broader measure.

This approach allows us to compile deaths data on a daily basis using up-to-date figures across all settings. The data includes deaths with lab-confirmed COVID-19 reported as at 5pm the previous day. The amount of time between occurrence of death and reporting in these figures may vary slightly and in some cases could be a few days, so figures at 5pm may not include all deaths for that day. The PHE method draws on data from 3 data sources and individual records of deaths are included in the figures as soon as they are available in any of these 3 sources.

In rare instances, the daily count under the new measure may be lower than the old measure because some hospital deaths in the hospital-only data will include individuals who have already been included in the composite count. Individual deaths have already been reported in the PHE series on previous days.

In addition to these figures, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes weekly counts of deaths in which COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This publication is issued every Tuesday, starting on 31 March 2020. The ONS series includes cases in all settings, and also includes some cases where COVID-19 is suspected but no test has taken place. ONS detailed data covers England and Wales only, but from 28 April their publication includes a headline summary of registered deaths in the whole of the UK. Their report each Tuesday covers deaths registered up to 11 days before publication.

Joint DHSC and ONS transparency statement about COVID deaths figures

Material published by PHE

PHE updates a daily dashboard to show trends in UK data on positive tests and deaths and to provide confirmed cases in each local authority and NHS region in England.

Risk level

The risk to the UK has been raised to high.

Published 24 January 2020
Last updated 30 April 2020 + show all updates

  1. Updated figures.

  2. Updated with figures reported on 29 April, including deaths in all settings, and updated notes on reporting of deaths figures. Figures for 30 April will follow later today.

  3. Updated figures.

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  17. Updated figures.

  18. Updated figures.

  19. Updated figures

  20. Changed the total number of tests concluded from 352,974 to 350,575. The updated figure only includes tests carried out under pillars 1 and 2 of the government’s national testing strategy

  21. In breakdown by pillar section, corrected total people tested figure in cumulative table

  22. Updated figures

  23. Updated figures.

  24. Updated figures and included breakdown of people tested under pillars 1 and 2 of the government's national testing strategy.

  25. Updated figures.

  26. Updated figures and added figures table.

  27. Updated figures.

  28. Updated figures to include cumulative tests.

  29. Updated figures

  30. Updated figures

  31. Updated daily figures

  32. Updates figures for testing

  33. Updated figures.

  34. Added information on how figures for deaths are compiled and reported.

  35. Updated figures.

  36. Updated figures.

  37. Updated figures.

  38. Updated figures.

  39. Updated figures.

  40. Updated figures. From today, 26 March 2020, recorded deaths will be as of 5pm the previous day.

  41. Update to the figures for testing in UK

  42. Updated figures.

  43. Updated test result figures.

  44. updated figures.

  45. updated figures.

  46. Updated figures on test results.

  47. Added updated figures.

  48. Updated figures and time

  49. Updated test figures

  50. Updated figures.

  51. Updated figures on test results.

  52. Updated figures.

  53. Updated test result figures.

  54. Update on case numbers, those who have tested positive and those who have sadly died.

  55. Updated numbers.

  56. Updated test result figures.

  57. The UK risk level has been raised to high.

  58. Added new guidance for people with symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19).

  59. Updated test result figures.

  60. Update to figures.

  61. Updated figures.

  62. Updated Italy advice.

  63. Updated figures.

  64. "to be determined" figures corrected - from 22 to 20.

  65. Updated lockdown areas.

  66. Regions updated.

  67. updated figures.

  68. Now with regional breakdown

  69. Update on stats and switch to 7am to improve reporting. Regionalised data to be published later today

  70. Updated test result figures.

  71. Updated returning traveller advice for Italy.

  72. Added updated figures for test results, including number of cases in each NHS England region.

  73. Updated test result figures.

  74. Updated figures for tests

  75. Added updated figures on UK test results.

  76. Updated figures.

  77. Updated stats and also made clear from now on stats will be accurate as of 0900 that day for consistency and accuracy.

  78. Updated figures.

  79. Updated figures.

  80. Updated figures.

  81. Updated test result figures.

  82. Updated advice for returning travellers.

  83. Updated test result figures.

  84. Updated figures.

  85. Updated numbers.

  86. Update to test figures

  87. Updated test figures.

  88. Updated daily figures on test results.

  89. Updated daily figures on test results.

  90. Updated figures.

  91. Daily update to testing numbers.

  92. Updated figures.

  93. Updated test result figures.

  94. Updated test result figures.

  95. Updated figures.

  96. Updated figures for those tested in the UK.

  97. Updated figures for those tested in UK

  98. Updated statistics on coronavirus tests.

  99. Fourth case of coronavirus in England

  100. Updated test figures

  101. Updated figures for coronavirus checks and removal figures of passengers returned from Wuhan as all are outside the incubation period.

  102. Updated advice from the Chief Medical Officer.

  103. Updated figures

  104. Updated figures - no new cases

  105. Updated advice for travellers

  106. Added link to FCO travel advice for British nationals.

  107. Updated test figures – no further positive cases.

  108. Added Northern Ireland contact number for those who have returned from Wuhan or Hubei Province in the last 14 days, or from elsewhere in China and have developed symptoms.

  109. updated figures - no new cases

  110. Updated figures - no new cases.

  111. Updated test figures – no further positive cases.

  112. Added coronavirus public information video.

  113. Updated the advice for travellers from China.

  114. Updated test figures.

  115. Update regarding first confirmed cases of coronavirus in England.

  116. Addition of CMO statement

  117. Updated information on risk level

  118. Updated figures – no confirmed cases

  119. Updated figures - no confirmed cases.

  120. Updated figures - no confirmed cases

  121. Updated advice for travellers from Wuhan.

  122. Updated advice for travellers from Wuhan.

  123. Updated test figures - no confirmed cases

  124. Updated figures - no confirmed cases.

  125. Tests figure update - no confirmed cases.

  126. Updated advice

  127. First published.

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