Coronavirus

Times they are a-changing: and with them, two key ONS surveys

Categories: Business, Coronavirus, Data, Economy, Office for National Statistics, ONS

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a huge impact on our daily lives, from how we live as a society to the running of businesses and workplaces. Here Tim Vizard and Emily Hopson look at how two surveys we introduced at the very beginning of the pandemic have been helping to inform our understanding of its consequences – and the changes we are making now as we learn to live with Covid.

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Using the COVID-19 School Infection Survey to measure the impact of the pandemic on children

Fiona Dawe
Categories: Coronavirus, Office for National Statistics, ONS
Schools Infection Survey Bag

The COVID-19 Schools Infection Survey (SIS) was launched at the start of the 2020-21 academic year, aiming to gain an insight into how the pandemic has affected children’s lives and their education. The first findings from this important study, jointly led by The Office for National Statistics (ONS), London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and UK Health Security Agency, have now been published. Fiona Dawe  explains the vital role this data plays.

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Self-isolation and worker absences

Photo of Tess Carter, Head of Strategy and Coordination at the Office for National Statistics.
Categories: Coronavirus, Data, Office for National Statistics, ONS
An image of an office type desk, there is a keyboard and mouse on it

As infection rates increased throughout December and early January, we saw impacts across a range of sectors as more people were isolating following a positive COVID test result. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) needed to assess the scale of self-isolation rapidly, and understand which sectors were most hit by worker absences. Tess Carter explains how data we published today help to provide those insights, and how they compare with our other data sources.  

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Understanding excess deaths during a pandemic

Categories: Coronavirus, ONS
An image of building blogs arranged for the year 2020, with the end zero changing to a one to reflect the new year

To give meaningful comparisons of mortality over time, the Office for National Statistics uses a five-year average.  This is designed to show us the expected number of deaths for a given year. However, the pandemic has had a big impact on this average and of what a ‘normal’ year looks like. Sarah Caul explains why, for 2022, the year 2020 will not be included as part of our five-year average.

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