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 16 May 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 16 May, there have been 2,489,563 tests, with 136,486 tests on 15 May.

1,742,028 people have been tested, of which 240,161 tested positive.

As of 5pm on 15 May, of those tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, 34,466 have died. This new figure includes deaths in all settings, not just in hospitals. The equivalent figure under the old measure would have been 28,270.

Tests People tested Positive Deaths in hospitals Deaths in all settings
Daily 136,486 78,537 3,451 260 468
Total 2,489,563 1,742,028 240,161 28,270 34,466

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

Daily

Pillar 1 Pillar 2 Pillar 4 Total
People tested 27,815 50,722 - 78,537
Tests 37,324 67,815 31,347 136,486
Positive 1,546 1,905 - 3,451

Cumulative

Pillar 1 Pillar 2 Pillar 4 Total
People tested 896,402 845,626 - 1,742,028
Tests 1,188,430 1,171,059 130,074 2,489,563
Positive 173,861 66,300 - 240,161

Pillar 2 breakdown of test types

In-person (tests processed) Delivery (tests sent out) Total tests
Daily 32,576 35,239 67,815
Cumulative 647,891 523,168 1,171,059
  • 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 essential workers and their households, as well as other groups that meet the eligibility criteria as set out in government guidance
  • Pillar 4: serology and swab testing for national surveillance supported by PHE, ONS, Biobank, universities and other partners to learn more about the prevalence and spread of the virus and for other testing research purposes, for example on the accuracy and ease of use of home testing

See the government’s national testing strategy for more information on the different pillars and ‘Notes on testing’ section below.

See a time series of daily deaths: 16 May 2020 (CSV, 2.97KB)

16 May notes

The daily totals for tests, people tested and positive cases is 1 higher than the difference between today’s and yesterday’s cumulative totals. This is due to historic data revisions to Pillar 1.

General notes

Data on UK tests, positive cases and 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.

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.

Notes on testing figures

Tests in the UK are carried out via a number of different routes. Tests are measured and reported in different ways depending on the route and how they’re administered.

The tests that are within the control of the central programme are counted when they’re processed in our laboratories. For any tests that go outside the control of the central programme, they’re counted when they leave the programme, for example the tests that are mailed out to people at home and the tests that are sent out via satellite sites.

The length of time it takes tests to be concluded varies depending on the testing route and the different processes involved. This means tests carried out on a particular day will not always be measured and reported at the same time.

The daily figures on the number of tests include:

Tests processed through our laboratories

These are counted at the time of processing in the laboratory and not when they are issued to people. Tests are never double-counted. Tests counted in this way are used to calculate the ‘people tested’ figure. This includes:

  • all tests under pillar 1
  • ‘in-person’ testing routes under pillar 2, for example tests carried out at the mobile testing units and the drive-through regional testing sites
  • ‘in-person’ testing routes under pillar 4, for example tests carried out as part of surveillance testing where they are administered by nurses employed by the central programme

Tests sent to individual at home or to satellite testing locations

These are counted when tests are dispatched and not at the time of processing in the laboratory. Tests are never double-counted. Tests counted in this way do not contribute towards the ‘people tested’ figure. This includes:

  • ‘delivery’ testing routes under pillar 2, for example tests carried out by the satellite testing centres, and home testing kits delivered by post
  • ‘delivery’ testing routes under pillar 4, for example tests carried out as part of surveillance testing where they are administered by individuals, rather than nurses employed by the central programme.

For clinical reasons, some people are tested more than once. Therefore the number of tests completed may 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.

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 16 May 2020 + show all updates

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