Yahoo Finance Interactive map shows how many people have had COVID in your area
Roughly one in seven people are estimated to have had coronavirus in England, according to new analysis from the Office for National Statistics.
The data, based on blood studies from private households and covering the time period up to 18 January, shows how the number of people with coronavirus antibodies due to past infection varies significantly across the country.
Just over one in five people (21%) are estimated to have had the virus in London, the highest prevalence of any area.
The lowest levels were found in South West England, where 8.3% of people are estimated to have had it.
See how many people have been infected in your area in the map below
The number of people estimated to have had COVID in each area of England is:
London – 21%
West Midlands – 18.8%
Yorkshire and the Humber – 18.7%
North West England – 18.1%
North East England – 16.2%
East Midlands – 15.7%
Eastern England – 10.8%
South East England – 10.2%
South West England – 8.3%
Read more: What you can and can't do under current lockdown rules
An estimated one in nine people in England had COVID antibodies in December, and one in 11 in November.
According to the ONS, one in nine people in Wales had been infected by mid-January, up from one in 14 in December.
Watch: 10 million people have had a first coronavirus vaccine in the UK
For Scotland, the estimate was one in 10, up from one in 13, and for Northern Ireland it was one in 11, up from one in 14.
The figures come amid signs England’s lockdown is driving down new cases.
Some 16,840 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday, down from a peak of more than 50,000 at the end of 2020.
In further encouraging news, data from Oxford University showed its vaccine, developed with AstraZeneca, could substantially cut transmission of coronavirus.
Matt Hancock hailed the new analysis as “absolutely superb”, telling BBC Breakfast: “We now know that the Oxford vaccine also reduces transmission and that will help us all to get out of this pandemic, frankly, which is why it is such good news that we should welcome.”
However, an outbreak of the South African variant of the virus, which has prompted surge testing in eight postcode areas of England where community transmission is feared, is worrying ministers.
A variant first identified in Kent has also been confirmed to have mutated in a way that could affect the efficacy of vaccines.
Watch: What you can and can't do during England's third national lockdown
