Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the changing distribution of covid-19 cases across different (a) age groups and (b) demographic groups; and if he will make a statement.

Public Health England publishes a surveillance report each Friday which details trends in case rates amongst different age groups, Index of Mean Deprivation quintiles, and ethnicities, as well as across different regions in England.

The latest report from 11 September (week 37) states that case rates are highest in the 20-29 years age group. Positivity rates have increased in all age groups and regions. A particularly steep increase in positivity has been observed in over 85-year olds tested through Pillar 2.

Among young adults there has been a shift in the demographic of cases in recent weeks from the highest rates among those in the most deprived groups towards those in the least deprived groups.

The report and data are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/weekly-covid-19-surveillance-report-published