Kit Yates Profile picture
Math Biologist. Author. Books - "Math(s) of Life and Death" Order "How to Expect the Unexpected" now - https://t.co/weTwI4ypM0

Aug 20, 2021, 10 tweets

A short thread on cases and positivity across the UK.
TL;DR Cases and positivity look to be on the rise across the UK (with the possible exception of Northern Ireland) but the picture is mixed.
The rises are not ubiquitous across all nations, regions and local authorities.
1/9

Cases seem to be rising across all four nations of the UK, after each nation saw a dip in July.
These rises probably correspond to the easing of restrictions and should be placed in context of schools still being off (Scotland saw schools return this week).
2/9

The picture is reflected in positivity. Positivity in all Nations is rising again, apart from Northern Ireland, which has continued to see positivity rates falls.
3/9

At a regional level in England we have seen up-ticks in cases in all regions although they seem to be flattening a little.
Some regions are seeing small falls in cases.
4/9

These are easier to see in this plot (orange this week vs grey last week - green diamonds are September 1st levels).
Rises in cases can be seen in all regions except, London and Yorkshire and the Humber, but the West Midlands saw big rises.
It's a mixed picture across England.
5

Its the same story for positivity where, after all (regions) initially up-ticking in early August, London and the NE saw small falls, but every other region in England continued to see rises in positivity.
6/9

At the level of Local Authorities (LAs) 178 ( 57%) English LTLAs saw increases and all are above last September 1st 2020 levels (green diamonds).
7/9

24 out of 32 Scottish LAs saw increased positivity rates.
21 out of 22 Welsh LAs saw increased positivity rates.
All Northern Irish LAs saw decreased positivity rates decrease.
8/9

Summary.
Cases and positivity look to be on the rise across the UK (with the possible exception of Northern Ireland) although more slowly than before the mid-July dips.
In context, this is with schools off, so we might expect cases/+ity to rise more quickly when schools go back.

Caveat: remember these data are now about a week old and reflect transmission even earlier.
With thanks, as ever to Bob Hawkins for his help preparing the data.

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