Transparency data

Demographic data for coronavirus (COVID-19) testing (England): 28 May to 26 August

Updated 4 September 2020

Applies to England

This statistical note aims to provide further information on testing for COVID-19 by different demographic groups under NHS Test and Trace. The note contains information on people newly tested and people newly testing positive for COVID-19 by age, gender and ethnicity since the beginning of the Test and Trace programme (28 May 2020).

This statistical note does not aim to look at disparities in risk or outcome for different demographic groups. For more information on this see disparities in the risk and outcomes of COVID-19.

Terminology

This note contains figures relating to people who were tested under pillar 1 or pillar 2 of the government testing strategy:

• pillar 1: swab testing in Public Health England (PHE) labs and NHS hospitals for those with a clinical need, and health and care workers

• pillar 2: swab testing for the wider population, through commercial partnerships

‘People tested’ refers to people who have newly been tested for COVID-19 and does not re-count people who have been tested more than once in either pillar 1 or pillar 2. ‘People testing positive’ refers only to people who have newly tested positive for COVID-19 and does not include people who have had more than one positive test. More details can be found in the methodology document.

Demographic data is collected for age, gender and ethnicity. For pillar 1, data is collected by the hospital, and is then enriched using patient records. For pillar 2, this data is collected when people register for a test and is voluntary, which means that people have the option not to provide their information.

For ethnicity, data has been grouped into 5 broad categories:

• white
• mixed/multiple ethnic groups
• Asian/Asian British
• black/black British
• other ethnic groups

The subgroups that make up each of these broad categories can be found at the ethnicity harmonised principle.

Gender

People tested

Since the start of Test and Trace (28 May) more people who identify as female have been newly tested than people who identify as male, making up 54.8% of the total people newly tested. This is similar for people tested in both pillar 1 (52.8% identify as female) and pillar 2 (55.8% identify as female).

Figure 1: number of people newly tested for COVID-19 by gender, pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

The pie chart shows that of the people newly tested for COVID-19 by gender in pillar 1 and pillar 2, from 28 May to 26 August in England, 54.8% identify as female, 43.1% identify as male and 2% gave no gender.

This has been consistent every week since Test and Trace started. However, the gap between the 2 genders was largest in week 1. The number of people being newly tested has been steadily increasing for both those who identify as being male and those who identify as being female since the middle of June.

Figure 2: number of people newly tested for COVID-19 each week by gender, pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

The data used in this chart can be found in the annex, table 1.

People testing positive

Since the start of Test and Trace, 54.1% of people newly testing positive identified as female. However, because people who identify as female were also more likely to get tested, this may not accurately reflect the overall population with COVID-19. This is similar for people testing positive in both pillar 1 (53.3% identify as female) and pillar 2 (54.4% identify as female).

Figure 3: number of people newly testing positive by gender, pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

The pie chart shows that of the people newly testing positive by gender in pillar 1 and pillar 2, from 28 May to 26 August in England, 54.1% identify as female, 44.9% identify as male and 0.9% gave no gender.

Since Test and Trace began, consistently more people who identify as female have newly tested positive than people who identify as male. This gap between the 2 genders was largest in week 1 and was narrowing until the beginning of July.

Figure 4: number of people newly testing positive each week by gender, pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

The data used in this chart can be found in the annex, table 2.

Age and gender

People tested

Since the start of Test and Trace, more people who identify as female have been tested than people who identify as male for almost all age groups, except for ages 0 to 9 and 70 to 79 years. The biggest differences are seen for age groups 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 where around 40% more people who identify as female were tested than people who identify as male.

Figure 5: number of people newly tested by age group and gender, pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

The data used in this chart can be found in the annex, table 3.

Since Test and Trace began, the age group with the largest number of people newly tested was between the ages of 30 to 39 years, for both people who identify as male and female. For people aged 40+, the number of people newly tested who identify as male plateaus between the ages of 40 and 59 and then steadily declines. This decline is also seen for people who identify as female, however there is a slight increase between the ages of 50 and 59, before dropping steadily for those aged 60 and over.

As shown in figure 6, up until ages 60 to 69, people are more likely to be tested under pillar 2. Between the ages of 70 and 89, people are more likely to be tested under pillar 1.

Figure 6: number of people newly tested by age group and pillar, 28 May to 28 August, England

The data used in this chart can be found in the annex, table 4.

People testing positive

Since the start of Test and Trace, for all age groups people identifying as female had more positive results than people who identify as male, except 0 to 9 years and 70 to 79 years. However, because people who identify as female were also more likely to get tested, this may not accurately reflect the overall population with COVID-19.

Figure 7: number of people newly testing positive by age group and gender, pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

The data used in this chart can be found in the annex, table 5.

For both genders, the number of people newly testing positive increases up to 20 to 29 years. The number of people testing positive then decreases by age for both genders, until between the ages of 80 to 89 years where there is an increase in the number of people newly testing positive who identify as female.

As with people being tested, between the ages of 70 and 89, people are more likely to test positive under pillar 1.

Figure 8: number of people newly testing positive by age group and pillar, 28 May to 26 August, England

The data used in this chart can be found in the annex, table 6.

Median age

The median age for both people newly tested and people newly testing positive has been steadily declining since NHS Test and Trace began. The fall has been more significant in those people newly testing positive, falling from age 52 at the beginning of the programme to 31 in the current week.

Figure 9: median age for people newly tested and people newly testing positive, pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

The data used in this chart can be found in the annex, table 7.

Ethnicity

Data has been grouped into 5 broad categories:

• white
• mixed/multiple ethnic groups
• Asian/Asian British
• black/black British
• other ethnic groups

The subgroups that make up each of these broad categories can be found at the ethnicity harmonised principle.

For pillar 2, the collection of ethnicity data became a mandatory field when booking a test in July. Before this, people who were booking a test did not have to give their ethnicity, so this field was sometimes left blank. From July onwards, those who do not want to disclose their ethnicity can select the Prefer not to say option.

People tested

Since Test and Trace began, for pillar 1 tests the majority of people tested (63.4%) are those who have identified as being of white ethnicity. Similarly, those who identify as being of white ethnicity make up the largest proportion (71.6%) of pillar 2 tests conducted.

Table 1: proportion of people newly tested by pillar and ethnicity, 28 May to 26 August, England

Ethnicity	Pillar 1	Pillar 2	Total
Asian/Asian British	4.9%	9.3%	7.9%
Black/black British	2.4%	3.0%	2.8%
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups	1.0%	2.2%	1.8%
Not given	26.2%	7.5%	13.6%
Other	2.1%	1.2%	1.5%
Prefer not to say	-	5.3%	3.5%
White	63.4%	71.6%	68.9%

There has been some change in the ethnicity of people getting tested since Test and Trace started. The number of people tested across both pillars has been slowly increasing for most ethnicities since week 1, with the largest increases seen for people who identify as mixed/multiple ethnic groups (104% increase) and Asian/Asian British (83% increase). The number of people newly tested where the ethnicity was not given has decreased by 50% since week 1. In July, ethnicity became a mandatory field when booking a test for pillar 2, which may explain this decrease.

Table 2: change in the number of people newly tested since week 1 of Test and Trace, by ethnicity, 28 May to 26 August, England

Ethnicity	Number tested in week 1 (28 May to 3 June)	Number tested in week 13 (20 August to 26 August)	% change
Asian/Asian British	20,995	38,491	83%
Black/black British	9,880	12,694	28%
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups	4,382	8,937	104%
Not given	83,272	41,579	-50%
Other	4,063	7,280	79%
Prefer not to say	11,060	22,216	101%
White	225,306	323,511	44%
All ethnic groups	358,958	454,708	27%

The data for all weeks can also be found in annex, table 8.

Figure 10a: number of people newly tested by ethnicity (Asian/Asian British), pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

Figure 10b: number of people newly tested by ethnicity (black/black British), pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

Figure 10c: number of people newly tested by ethnicity (mixed/multiple ethnic groups), pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

Figure 10d: number of people newly tested by ethnicity (other), pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

Figure 10e: number of people newly tested by ethnicity (white), pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

The data used in these charts can be found in the annex, table 8.

People testing positive

Since Test and Trace began, the majority of people testing positive are those who identified as being of white ethnicity, followed by those who identified as being of Asian/Asian British ethnicity. However, because people who identify as white ethnicity were also more likely to get tested, this may not accurately reflect the overall population with COVID-19.

Figure 11: number of people testing positive by ethnicity, pillar 1 and pillar 2, 28 May to 26 August, England

The data used in these charts can be found in the annex, table 9.

As with the number of people tested, there has been some change in the ethnicity of people testing positive since Test and Trace started.

Table 3: change in people newly testing positive since week 1 of Test and Trace, by ethnicity, 28 May to 26 August, England

Ethnicity	Number testing positive in week 1 (28 May to 3 June)	Number testing positive in week 13 (20 August to 26 August)	% change
Asian/Asian British	1,294	1,467	13%
Black/black British	237	359	51%
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups	95	171	80%
Not given	1,680	298	-82%
Other	97	178	84%
Prefer not to say	257	485	89%
White	5,183	3,905	-25%
All ethnic groups	8,843	6,863	-22%

The data for all weeks can also be found in the annex, table 9.

Other sources

Some data is already available in terms of confirmed cases by age, gender and ethnicity. Coronavirus in the UK has a similar graph to show the confirmed cases by age and gender. The numbers will not align as this report only shows the data from the start of Test and Trace (28 May) whereas the coronavirus in the UK dashboard contains records from the start of the pandemic.

Demographic data is also available in the national COVID-19 surveillance reports which includes weekly reports of confirmed cases and deaths by age, gender and ethnicity. The time frames used in this report do not match those used in the Test and Trace publication.

This statistical note does not look at disparities in risk or outcome. However, this has been explored by PHE in the disparities in the risk and outcomes of COVID-19 publication and also by the Office of National Statistics in the coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths by ethnic group publication.

Annex A: tables

Data for this statistical note was taken at a different time to the data for the main bulletin. As such, the totals will not match the totals given in the weekly time series.

Annex table 1: number of people newly tested for COVID-19 under pillars 1 and 2, by gender, England^{[footnote 1]}

Week	Female	Male	Total
28/05/20 to 03/06/20	219,580	132,614	358,958
04/06/20 to 10/06/20	216,618	143,423	366,366
11/06/20 to 17/06/20	172,095	124,154	302,327
18/06/20 to 24/06/20	154,638	116,458	278,266
25/06/20 to 01/07/20	166,784	129,181	301,291
02/07/20 to 08/07/20	177,429	138,611	322,420
09/07/20 to 15/07/20	197,129	156,621	359,297
16/07/20 to 22/07/20	200,261	164,837	372,868
23/07/20 to 29/07/20	207,749	175,084	389,510
30/07/20 to 05/08/20	232,342	195,512	437,107
06/08/20 to 12/08/20	227,370	198,462	434,422
13/08/20 to 19/08/20	240,271	207,852	458,921
20/08/20 to 26/08/20	239,019	203,772	454,708
Total since Test and Trace launched	2,651,285	2,086,581	4,836,461

Annex table 2: number of people newly testing positive for COVID-19 under pillars 1 and 2, by gender, England^{[footnote 1]}

Week	Female	Male	Total
28/05/20 to 03/06/20	5,320	3,471	8,843
04/06/20 to 10/06/20	3,871	2,794	6,703
11/06/20 to 17/06/20	3,452	2,738	6,230
18/06/20 to 24/06/20	2,811	2,392	5,238
25/06/20 to 01/07/20	2,091	1,889	4,064
02/07/20 to 08/07/20	2,042	1,818	3,936
09/07/20 to 15/07/20	2,145	1,872	4,054
16/07/20 to 22/07/20	2,268	1,982	4,270
23/07/20 to 29/07/20	2,689	2,310	5,018
30/07/20 to 05/08/20	2,892	2,376	5,281
06/08/20 to 12/08/20	3,434	3,033	6,676
13/08/20 to 19/08/20	3,287	3,061	6,377
20/08/20 to 26/08/20	3,525	3,311	6,863
Total since Test and Trace launched	39,827	33,047	73,553

Annex table 3: number of people newly tested for COVID-19 under pillars 1 and 2, by age and gender, 28 May to 26 August, England^{[footnote 2]}

Age	Female	Male	Total
0 to 9	154,413	172,337	330,612
10 to 19	154,529	138,250	295,894
20 to 29	460,488	319,569	788,131
30 to 39	495,045	355,107	860,744
40 to 49	372,658	285,113	666,196
50 to 59	380,448	282,702	672,000
60 to 69	241,190	216,387	464,950
70 to 79	177,796	179,270	364,020
80 to 89	142,308	107,455	254,354
90+	67,699	26,585	95,407
Total since Test and Trace launched	2,651,285	2,086,581	4,836,461

Annex table 4: number of people newly tested for COVID-19 under pillars 1 and 2, by age and pillar, 28 May to 26 August, England^{[footnote 3]}

Age	Pillar 1	Pillar 2	Total
0 to 9	71,286	259,326	330,612
10 to 19	62,178	233,716	295,894
20 to 29	171,802	616,329	788,131
30 to 39	222,024	638,720	860,744
40 to 49	175,395	490,801	666,196
50 to 59	208,932	463,068	672,000
60 to 69	197,678	267,272	464,950
70 to 79	226,320	137,700	364,020
80 to 89	164,558	89,796	254,354
90+	42,897	52,510	95,407
Total since Test and Trace launched	1,586,248	3,250,213	4,836,461

Annex table 5: people newly testing positive for COVID-19 under pillars 1 and 2, by age and gender, 28 May to 26 August, England^{[footnote 2]}

Age	Female	Male	Total
0 to 9	1,514	1,577	3,104
10 to 19	2,959	2,756	5,727
20 to 29	8,226	6,380	14,702
30 to 39	6,753	6,166	13,058
40 to 49	5,753	4,731	10,576
50 to 59	5,111	4,121	9,327
60 to 69	2,822	2,720	5,590
70 to 79	1,916	1,950	3,886
80 to 89	2,910	1,974	4,900
90+	1,852	653	2,513
Total since Test and Trace launched	39,816	33,028	73,553

Annex table 6: people newly testing positive for COVID-19 under pillars 1 and 2, by age and pillar, 28 May to 26 August, England^{[footnote 3]}

Age	Pillar 1	Pillar 2	Total
0 to 9	263	2,841	3,104
10 to 19	328	5,399	5,727
20 to 29	1,632	13,070	14,702
30 to 39	1,814	11,244	13,058
40 to 49	1,769	8,807	10,576
50 to 59	1,917	7,410	9,327
60 to 69	1,664	3,926	5,590
70 to 79	1,994	1,892	3,886
80 to 89	2,616	2,284	4,900
90+	1,066	1,447	2,513
Total since Test and Trace launched	15,227	58,326	73,553

Annex table 7: median age of people newly tested and newly testing positive for COVID-19 under pillars 1 and 2, England

Week	People tested	People testing positive
28/05/20 to 03/06/20	48	52
04/06/20 to 10/06/20	45	48
11/06/20 to 17/06/20	44	44
18/06/20 to 24/06/20	43	43
25/06/20 to 01/07/20	42	41
02/07/20 to 08/07/20	42	40
09/07/20 to 15/07/20	41	38
16/07/20 to 22/07/20	40	37
23/07/20 to 29/07/20	39	37
30/07/20 to 05/08/20	39	37
06/08/20 to 12/08/20	39	35
13/08/20 to 19/08/20	39	33
20/08/20 to 26/08/20	38	31

Annex table 8: number of people newly tested for COVID-19 under pillars 1 and 2, by ethnicity, 28 May to 26 August, England

Week	Asian/Asian British	Black/black British	Mixed/multiple ethnic groups	Other	White	Prefer not to say	Not given
28/05/20 to 03/06/20	20,995	9,880	4,382	4,063	225,306	11,060	83,272
04/06/20 to 10/06/20	22,872	9,342	5,378	4,448	240,841	10,245	73,240
11/06/20 to 17/06/20	20,177	7,647	4,780	3,861	199,580	6,726	59,556
18/06/20 to 24/06/20	20,070	7,763	4,419	3,842	178,291	6,149	57,732
25/06/20 to 01/07/20	22,689	8,199	5,072	4,355	203,533	8,159	49,284
02/07/20 to 08/07/20	25,896	9,284	5,529	4,898	224,730	9,441	42,642
09/07/20 to 15/07/20	30,806	9,726	6,534	5,554	251,697	11,608	43,372
16/07/20 to 22/07/20	33,559	10,046	7,100	5,837	261,328	11,902	43,096
23/07/20 to 29/07/20	32,545	11,023	7,908	6,134	278,412	13,355	40,133
30/07/20 to 05/08/20	35,164	13,355	8,833	6,897	312,426	16,485	43,947
06/08/20 to 12/08/20	38,346	13,432	8,692	7,154	305,002	21,016	40,780
13/08/20 to 19/08/20	38,483	13,273	9,296	7,281	327,128	22,764	40,696
20/08/20 to 26/08/20	38,491	12,694	8,937	7,280	323,511	22,216	41,579
Total since Test and Trace launched	380,093	135,664	86,860	71,604	3,331,785	171,126	659,329

Annex table 9: people newly testing positive for COVID-19 under pillars 1 and 2, by ethnicity, 28 May to 26 August, England

Week	Asian/Asian British	Black/black British	Mixed/multiple ethnic groups	Other	White	Prefer not to say	Not given
28/05/20 to 03/06/20	1,294	237	95	97	5,183	257	1,680
04/06/20 to 10/06/20	1,337	209	79	98	3,709	235	1,036
11/06/20 to 17/06/20	1,516	191	93	92	3,402	188	748
18/06/20 to 24/06/20	1,548	156	73	74	2,592	166	629
25/06/20 to 01/07/20	1,244	111	57	83	2,029	188	352
02/07/20 to 08/07/20	1,284	132	35	57	1,929	248	251
09/07/20 to 15/07/20	1,298	143	49	60	1,865	281	358
16/07/20 to 22/07/20	1,415	151	92	73	2,048	289	202
23/07/20 to 29/07/20	1,588	269	95	105	2,395	367	199
30/07/20 to 05/08/20	1,663	255	116	125	2,534	421	167
06/08/20 to 12/08/20	2,132	359	151	136	2,899	605	394
13/08/20 to 19/08/20	1,652	405	155	132	3,267	533	233
20/08/20 to 26/08/20	1,467	359	171	178	3,905	485	298
Total since Test and Trace launched	19,438	2,977	1,261	1,310	37,757	4,263	6,547

1. The total given includes those who did not provide information about their gender and so does not match the sum of people newly tested who identify as male and female. ↩ ↩²

2. The total given includes those who did not provide information about their gender and so does not match the sum of people newly tested who identify as male and female. Additionally, the total includes people who did not give their age so the total since Test and Trace launched will not match the sum of all age groups. ↩ ↩²

3. The total includes people who did not give their age so the total since Test and Trace launched will not match the sum of all age groups. ↩ ↩²