Coronavirus: 1,700 new infections in England a day as decline levels off, new figures suggest

Coronavirus is still infecting 1,700 people every day, according to new estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The figures show that between June 22 and July 5 an average of 14,000 people in private households in England had Covid-19 at any given time between.

This was the equivalent of around 0.03 per cent of the population, or one in 3,900 individuals.

The figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings.

They also found an estimated average of 1,700 people were newly inflected everyday with the virus during this period.

Previous estimates were 2,000 people per day between June 8 and 21, and 1,900 between May 25 and June 7.

The estimate is based on swab tests collected from 25,662 participants, of which eight individuals from eight different households tested positive for Covid-19.

The ONS said the latest estimates suggest the percentage of people in private households in England testing positive for Covid-19 has decreased over time since April 27.

It added: “This downward trend appears to have now levelled off”.

When looking at the last three 14-day periods, the ONS said the variation in the percentage of people testing positive – 0.05 per cent, 0.10 per cent and 0.03 per cent – is consistent with the kind of random variation that is based on sampling.

It comes as the number of people who have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK has risen by 85.

As of 5pm on Wednesday, 44,602 have died across all settings, including the community and care homes, after testing positive for Covid-19.

A total of 287,621 people have been diagnosed with the disease in Britain since the start of the pandemic