Figure 14 and Figure 15 show trends in unique patients with a clinical COVID-19 diagnosis or test result by age categories as captured in general practice on diagnosis date, in England between 1st March 2020 and 31st March 2021. These are reported as 7 day rolling averages, per 100,000 of the underlying population. Patients are counted on their first clinical diagnosis or positive test result. Figure 16 and Figure 17 additionally include patients with a suspected diagnosis.
Cases initially peak in April 2020, with the rate for the over-90s group being the highest. Rates for those aged 70+ remain higher than for other age bands from early in the pandemic through to summer 2020.
From September 2020 we observe differing trends across the age groups. There is a steep rise, then fall, for the 5-11 and, to a lesser extent, the 12-17 age groups in September 2020. This is driven by suspected cases rather than clinical diagnoses or test results. In early October the 18-25 age group saw a steep rise then remained relatively flat through mid-November 2020, while other age groups increased more steadily, and to lower peaks, over this period.
From mid-November through early-December 2020 all age bands saw some declines, then rising again to peaks in mid-January 2021. The pattern across age bands differs from those seen earlier in the pandemic. For bands covering the ages 12 to 69, January 2021 saw rates markedly higher than those seen in April 2020. For the 70+ groups, rates were lower in January 2021 than in April 2020. Unlike in the earlier period, peak rates for those aged 70-79 and 80-89 were lower than for younger adult age bands, although the rate for the over-90s group was again the highest across all age bands. After January 2021 there was a sharp decline for all age groups.
These differences will reflect either differences in infection rates or differences in how the different groups tested or approached their GP.