The number of people with Covid-19 in households across England is continuing to fall, though the picture is uncertain in some regions, data shows.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate that about one in 220 people in private households in England had Covid-19 between 21 and 27 February – the equivalent of 248,100 people.
The figure is down from about one in 145, or 373,700 people, for the period 13-19 February, and is the lowest figure since the week to 1 October when it was one in 240.
However, the number of people infected in England is still high when compared with last summer. In the week to 25 August, about one in 2,000 people had coronavirus.
The ONS said the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 in the latest figures had decreased in all regions except for north-east England, the east Midlands and eastern England, where it said the trend was uncertain.
North-east England had the highest proportion of people of any region in England likely to test positive for coronavirus in the week to 27 February – about one in 150 people.
The West Midlands had the next highest estimate at one in 160, while the figure was one in 185 for the east Midlands; one in 190 for north-west England; one in 195 for London; one in 225 for Yorkshire and the Humber; one in 260 for eastern England; one in 340 for south-east England, and one in 365 for south-west England.
In Wales, the latest estimate was one in 285, down from 205, and in Northern Ireland it was one in 325, down from one in 195. The estimate for Scotland for the week to 27 February was about one in 335 people, down from one in 225.
The latest data is based on swab tests from 684,875 people in the UK, regardless of whether they had symptoms, and does not include hospitals and care homes.