During the second national lockdown in the United Kingdom, the country’s coronavirus cases dropped by about 30 percent, according to a new study.
The report, from the Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) program in the UK, looked at swab tests on more than 105,000 people between November 13 and 24.
Researchers found about .96 percent of the sample tested positive for coronavirus. This compares to about 1.32 percent positive swab tests of a similar sample in a November 2 report.
“Three weeks into the second national lockdown in England there has been a ~30% proportionate reduction in prevalence overall,” the REACT report concluded. However, “average absolute prevalence remains high at ~1%. Continued monitoring of the epidemic in the community remains essential until prevalence is reliably suppressed to much lower levels, for example, through widespread vaccination.”
An estimated one in 100 people have coronavirus in the UK, according to the study.
The UK’s lockdown started on November 5, and data has indicated there was a spike in cases right after, according to the BBC, as symptoms started to show before the effects of the lockdown.
The four-week lockdown is set to be lifted Wednesday in the UK, and regions will fall into one of a few tiers based on the rate of infections in that area.
The study’s authors said the latest round of test results show a higher prevalence of positive coronavirus tests in school-aged children, however they note schools have stayed open.
The UK’s second lockdown kept schools open while the majority of other businesses closed and residents were asked to stay home and not socialize. The country has been paying 80 percent of employee wages during lockdown.
They also found a higher prevalence of positive tests from healthcare workers compared to the October data.
Researchers estimate the so-called coronavirus reproduction rate, or number of people who will contract the virus from one infected person, has dropped to about .88. Roughly, this means less than one person contracts the coronavirus from each infected person.