Table 1. Characteristics of Persons Tested for SARS-CoV-2 in England, According to Test Positivity or Negativity and Variant.*.
| Characteristic | Overall (N=2,663,549) |
Test-Negative Status (N=1,572,621) |
Delta Variant (N=204,154) |
Omicron Variant (N=886,774) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of all participants | 100 | 59.0 | 7.7 | 33.3 |
| Sex — no. (%) | ||||
| Female | 1,555,857 (58.4) | 955,508 (60.8) | 111,080 (54.4) | 489,269 (55.2) |
| Male | 1,102,797 (41.4) | 614,068 (39.0) | 92,764 (45.4) | 395,965 (44.7) |
| Missing data | 4,895 (0.2) | 3,045 (0.2) | 310 (0.2) | 1,540 (0.2) |
| Age — no. (%) | ||||
| 18 or 19 yr | 86,559 (3.2) | 46,445 (3.0) | 4,055 (2.0) | 36,059 (4.1) |
| 20–24 yr | 279,465 (10.5) | 151,700 (9.6) | 14,071 (6.9) | 113,694 (12.8) |
| 25–29 yr | 336,504 (12.6) | 192,568 (12.2) | 20,227 (9.9) | 123,709 (14.0) |
| 30–34 yr | 355,731 (13.4) | 212,628 (13.5) | 26,484 (13.0) | 116,619 (13.2) |
| 35–39 yr | 327,751 (12.3) | 197,453 (12.6) | 30,097 (14.7) | 100,201 (11.3) |
| 40–44 yr | 283,074 (10.6) | 164,907 (10.5) | 31,936 (15.6) | 86,231 (9.7) |
| 45–49 yr | 244,583 (9.2) | 140,024 (8.9) | 26,862 (13.2) | 77,697 (8.8) |
| 50–54 yr | 231,704 (8.7) | 136,899 (8.7) | 20,326 (10.0) | 74,479 (8.4) |
| 55–59 yr | 193,831 (7.3) | 117,764 (7.5) | 14,943 (7.3) | 61,124 (6.9) |
| 60–64 yr | 131,656 (4.9) | 84,101 (5.3) | 8,187 (4.0) | 39,368 (4.4) |
| 65–69 yr | 80,267 (3.0) | 53,952 (3.4) | 3,251 (1.6) | 23,064 (2.6) |
| 70–74 yr | 55,598 (2.1) | 36,893 (2.3) | 1,846 (0.9) | 16,859 (1.9) |
| 75–79 yr | 30,615 (1.1) | 19,748 (1.3) | 976 (0.5) | 9,891 (1.1) |
| 80–84 yr | 15,333 (0.6) | 10,058 (0.6) | 488 (0.2) | 4,787 (0.5) |
| 85–89 yr | 7,452 (0.3) | 5,069 (0.3) | 279 (0.1) | 2,104 (0.2) |
| ≥90 yr | 3,426 (0.1) | 2,412 (0.2) | 126 (0.1) | 888 (0.1) |
| Race or ethnic group — no. (%)† | ||||
| African | 39,865 (1.5) | 19,439 (1.2) | 1,851 (0.9) | 18,575 (2.1) |
| Caribbean | 23,070 (0.9) | 10,052 (0.6) | 1,527 (0.7) | 11,491 (1.3) |
| Another Black background | 3,955 (0.1) | 1,938 (0.1) | 241 (0.1) | 1,776 (0.2) |
| Arab | 8,743 (0.3) | 5,271 (0.3) | 660 (0.3) | 2,812 (0.3) |
| Bangladeshi | 18,372 (0.7) | 10,836 (0.7) | 1,231 (0.6) | 6,305 (0.7) |
| Chinese | 17,803 (0.7) | 10,967 (0.7) | 1,142 (0.6) | 5,694 (0.6) |
| Indian | 88,486 (3.3) | 57,385 (3.6) | 4,574 (2.2) | 26,527 (3.0) |
| Pakistani | 46,291 (1.7) | 27,417 (1.7) | 3,004 (1.5) | 15,870 (1.8) |
| Another Asian background | 34,867 (1.3) | 19,979 (1.3) | 2,082 (1.0) | 12,806 (1.4) |
| Mixed or multiple ethnic groups | 52,395 (2.0) | 29,291 (1.9) | 3,358 (1.6) | 19,746 (2.2) |
| White | 2,215,756 (83.2) | 1,312,372 (83.5) | 176,390 (86.4) | 726,994 (82.0) |
| Another ethnic background | 18,302 (0.7) | 10,715 (0.7) | 1,180 (0.6) | 6,407 (0.7) |
| Prefer not to say | 95,644 (3.6) | 56,959 (3.6) | 6,914 (3.4) | 31,771 (3.6) |
| NHS region — no. (%) | ||||
| East of England | 287,326 (10.8) | 191,259 (12.2) | 22,695 (11.1) | 73,372 (8.3) |
| London | 411,785 (15.5) | 237,614 (15.1) | 24,571 (12.0) | 149,600 (16.9) |
| Midlands | 455,325 (17.1) | 280,909 (17.9) | 35,860 (17.6) | 138,556 (15.6) |
| North East | 414,437 (15.6) | 232,576 (14.8) | 32,467 (15.9) | 149,394 (16.8) |
| North West | 444,930 (16.7) | 207,429 (13.2) | 33,404 (16.4) | 204,097 (23.0) |
| South East | 406,968 (15.3) | 257,588 (16.4) | 33,720 (16.5) | 115,660 (13.0) |
| South West | 242,772 (9.1) | 165,240 (10.5) | 21,437 (10.5) | 56,095 (6.3) |
| Missing | 6 (<0.1) | 6 (<0.1) | 0 | 0 |
| Index of multiple deprivation — no. (%)‡ | ||||
| 1 | 482,884 (18.1) | 261,116 (16.6) | 37,433 (18.3) | 184,335 (20.8) |
| 2 | 529,594 (19.9) | 305,748 (19.4) | 39,456 (19.3) | 184,390 (20.8) |
| 3 | 540,303 (20.3) | 325,218 (20.7) | 41,308 (20.2) | 173,777 (19.6) |
| 4 | 551,055 (20.7) | 333,456 (21.2) | 42,602 (20.9) | 174,997 (19.7) |
| 5 | 550,254 (20.7) | 341,620 (21.7) | 42,756 (20.9) | 165,878 (18.7) |
| Missing data | 9,459 (0.4) | 5,463 (0.3) | 599 (0.3) | 3,397 (0.4) |
| Previously tested positive — no. (%) | ||||
| No | 2,301,572 (86.4) | 1,312,548 (83.5) | 200,400 (98.2) | 788,624 (88.9) |
| Yes | 361,977 (13.6) | 260,073 (16.5) | 3,754 (1.8) | 98,150 (11.1) |
| Vaccine priority group — no. (%) | ||||
| Health and social care worker | 164,113 (6.2) | 113,183 (7.2) | 5,657 (2.8) | 45,273 (5.1) |
| Clinically extremely vulnerable | 142,002 (5.3) | 93,236 (5.9) | 7,443 (3.6) | 41,323 (4.7) |
| At risk | 482,075 (18.1) | 307,240 (19.5) | 32,490 (15.9) | 142,345 (16.1) |
| Severely immunosuppressed | 22,391 (0.8) | 13,985 (0.9) | 1,191 (0.6) | 7,215 (0.8) |
*
B.1.617.2 is the delta variant, and B.1.1.529 the omicron variant, of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Percentages may not total 100 because of rounding.
†
Race or ethnic group was determined from data in the National Immunisation Management System register.
‡
The index of multiple deprivation is a national indicator of level of deprivation on the basis of small geographic areas of residence; the index ranges from 1 (least deprived) to 5 (most deprived).