Office for National Statistics

UK Infections and Antibody Survey passes key milestone as 3 millionth swab test collected

Categories: Coronavirus, Office for National Statistics, ONS

Set up in days to meet an urgent need for better information on how Covid-19 was affecting the community population, the UK Covid-19 Infection Survey has become a indispensable source of  data on the pandemic. With more than three million swab tests conducted in over two hundred thousand households, the National Statistician thanks and pays tribute to everyone involved.     

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Developing the Health Index for England

Categories: Office for National Statistics, ONS, Public Policy, Wellbeing

In 2018, Dame Sally Davies, then Chief Medical Officer, called for an official index on England’s health. Her aim was to ensure that “health is recognised and treated as one of our nation’s primary assets…alongside GDP and the Measuring National Well-being programme.” As consultation on the proposed index gets under way, Greg Ceely explains the development work ONS has undertaken so far and what the provisional findings show.

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How does living in a more deprived area influence rates of suicide?

Categories: Coronavirus, Data, Office for National Statistics, ONS, Wellbeing

Every year, organisations and communities come together on World Suicide Prevention Day to raise awareness of how we can create a society where fewer people reach the point where they feel suicide is their only option. Ben Windsor-Shellard from the ONS, along with Magdalena Tomaszewska and Mette Isaksen from Samaritans, reflect on the latest suicide figures and analysis of suicide rates by local area deprivation.

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