Covid is now present in every classroom, with at least 2 infected children.

COVID is in every classroom with one in 15 children in England’s secondary schools infected with the bug.

Today’s stats add weight to the fears that the fourth wave has already begun and is spreading into older age groups.

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Experts advise people to be cautious when it comes to the elderly because their vaccine protection might have decreased over time.

Previous outbreaks of the virus have demonstrated that they tend to spread through the generations, starting in schools and younger people.

Today’s data shows that 6.2% of the Year 7-11 students would have tested positive to Covid on September 25, according new estimates.

It’s the equivalent of one in 15, or two children in a classroom of 30.

The ONS had reported that the figure was at 0.08 percent as of May 1.

According to the ONS, secondary school students had the highest incidence of cases among all age groups just weeks after returning to school.

Prof Kevin McConway (emeritus) is a professor of applied statistics, The Open University. He said that it was “an extraordinarily high rate”.

2.5% of primary school children (or younger) were found to have had Covid by September 25, a figure that is one in 40.

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The ONS stated that there are early signs of an increase in people over 70, but very little change over the other age groups.

In England, Covid was reported by one in 85 residents in private homes. This is roughly 658,800 people.

Around one in fifty people were diagnosed with coronavirus at the peak of the second wave, which occurred in January.

The highest infection rates were in Yorkshire and Humber, which was around one in 55. London, however, had a rate of around one per 130.

However, Prof McConway commented: “Of course, 1 in 85 testing positive is quite a high level of infection, similar to the rate in early February this year when we were in lockdown, but vaccinations have changed the importance of such a high level of infection.

“Also infections are becoming more and more concentrated in the youngest age groups, particularly secondary school pupils, and most of those will not have been vaccinated, while most of those in older groups will have been vaccinated.”

The figures for the UK rest show that the week ended September 25th were:

• One in 55 Welsh people is now a resident, up from one out of 60 in 1960.
• One in 55 people in Scotland is now one in 55, compared to one in 45.
• Northern Ireland’s one in 65 population is now down from one to 60

‘Protect grandparents’

Experts advised families to be careful of grandparents as Covid spreads from schools to homes.

Professor Tim Spector heads the ZOE Covid Symptom Study application, which has shown an increase in cases for those between 30-50.

Prof Spector said: “Many of them may well be the parents who are mixing with these infected kids. This is likely to be the driving source of infection for the next few days.

“So if you’ve got kids at school, do be a bit careful about mixing, particularly with vulnerable or elderly relatives for the next couple of weeks.”

Although the methods used to estimate infections by the ZOE and ONS surveys are different, they have seen similar trends in the past.

Inconsistent picture

According to the ONS infections are common in the UK.

The statistics however show large variations among the countries and even between different neighbourhoods.

Prof McConway commented: “As just one example, in Salford for the most recent week, ONS estimate that about 1 in every 30 people in the community population would test positive.

“But in the adjoining area, Wigan and St Helens, the estimated rate of testing positive is very much lower at 1 in 110.

“There are large differences between areas that are adjoining or very close to one another in many other places on the map too, which does add to the evidence that the current state of the pandemic is very far from consistent across the whole country.”

Each country in the UK has had a different experience, “shape”Figures for the third wave “show that there is still a lot of Covid about”Dr Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cell microbiology at University of Reading, said that it was true.

“We have been bumping along at a similar rate for the past few weeks, with infections currently being driven by secondary school-aged children.”

It has been proven that vaccines can reduce the number people with severe Covid-19 symptoms who need hospitalization.

Even though patient numbers may have declined slightly in recent weeks they remain at the same level. “stubbornly high”Mark Woolhouse, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, stated that it was true.

He stated that the numbers must be “fall significantly before pressure on the NHS starts to build up during the winter”.

“Although only a small minority of adults remain unvaccinated, they are greatly over-represented among hospital cases and deaths,”Professor Woolhouse stated this to the PA news agency.