COVID cases drop by a third

March 12, 2021

This article has not been updated recently

According to the ZOE COVID Symptom Study UK Infection Survey figures, there are currently 5,494 daily new symptomatic cases of COVID in the UK on average, based on swab tests data from up to five days ago [*]. This compares to 8,111 cases a week ago a decrease of 32% from last week. That’s down 92% from a peak of 69,000 at the beginning of the year. In terms of prevalence, on average 1 in 613 people in the UK currently have symptomatic COVID. (Full table of regional results below)

Key findings from ZOE COVID Symptom Study UK Infection Survey this week: 

  • The UK R value is close to 0.8
  • Regional R values are: England, 0.8, Wales, 0.9, Scotland, 0.8 (full table of R values below) This is the lowest the R values have been for a number of weeks. 
  • The average rate of prevalence for symptomatic disease across the UK is 1 in 613

The ZOE COVID Symptom Study UK Infection Survey figures are based on around one million weekly reporters and the proportion of newly symptomatic users who have positive swab tests. The latest survey figures were based on data from 7,600 recent swab tests done between 21 February to 07 March 2021.

The app is delivered in collaboration with King’s Health Partners, an Academic Health Sciences Centre based in South East London.

Tim Spector OBE, lead scientist on the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app and Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, comments on the latest data:
“The UK has come a long way since the start of the year, and it’s great to see new case rates falling to levels that are among the lowest in Europe. With 22 million vaccinations administered, deaths and admissions falling at similar speeds, I believe we can be hopeful the darkest days are behind us. The data shows regional changes appearing with lower rates in the south. The ZOE app is built to rapidly detect new outbreaks and novel symptoms from new strains so we will be closely monitoring all the regions and symptoms, particularly now schools have reopened.”


Incidence / Daily new symptomatic cases regional breakdown [*] 



A graph comparing all surveillance surveys (ONS, REACT-1 & CSS) 

The ZOE COVID Symptom Study UK Infection Survey results over time for the UK

Table of R Values

Map of UK prevalence figures


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