Coronavirus (COVID-19): state of the epidemic - 11 February 2022

Looking ahead

Scottish Contact Survey

Changes in patterns of mixing and adherence to restrictions will impact on future case numbers. The Scottish Contact Survey measures times and settings that people mix where they could potentially spread Covid-19. Average contacts from the most recent Panel B cohort of the Scottish Contact Survey (week ending 2 February) indicate an average of 5.1 contacts.

Mean contacts have increased within the work setting by 43%. Contacts within the home and other setting (contacts outside home, school and work) have remained at a similar level over the same period.

The youngest (18 to 29 years old) and oldest age groups (aged 60 or older) have reported an increase in contacts in the last two weeks. Increases were largely driven by contacts within the work setting for those in the youngest age group, with individuals 60 and over reporting a rise in contacts within the other setting. All remaining age groups reported a decrease in contacts.

Modelling the Epidemic

The latest Modelling the Epidemic report includes projections over the next few weeks for combined Delta and Omicron infections. These projections include the effect of the interventions announced on 14 and 21 December 2021; those announced as being lifted from 17, 24 and 31 January 2022; and booster take up. 'Central' assumes that infections broadly plateau at current levels. 'Worse' assumes a higher transmissibility for Covid-19 whereas 'Better' assumes a lower transmissibility. All projections also assume a lower vaccine effectiveness for Omicron than for Delta.

With this taken into account, it is estimated that daily infections may be between 2,000 and 37,000 at the start of March^[58]. However, the future trajectory of infections is uncertain.

Figure 12 shows the impact of the daily infection projections on the number of people in hospital. The modelling includes all hospital stays, whereas the actuals only include stays up to 28 days' duration that are linked to Covid-19. However, there continues to be uncertainty over hospital occupancy and intensive care in the next four weeks^[59].

Long Covid

According to the Office for National Statistic (ONS), long Covid is defined as symptoms persisting more than four weeks after the first suspected coronavirus (Covid-19) episode that are not explained by something else.

Estimates on the proportion of people in the private residential population in Scotland that experience long Covid symptoms are published by the ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey on a monthly basis.

The next scheduled release of long Covid data from the Covid-19 Infection Survey is expected to be summarised in this report on 4 March. For information on the most recent estimates, see the State of the Epidemic report published on 4 February 2022. Weekly modelled estimated for Scotland are also published in the Modelling the Epidemic report, which can be found here.