Reports by early years and childcare settings to Ofsted of incidents of coronavirus rose from 269 incidents for the week starting 7 June, to 396 the week of the 14 June, and 643 for the week starting 21 June.
However, this is much lower than a peak of 2,384 reports for the week of 1 February 2021.
The statistics reveal that the number of reports dropped at the end of May, before rising again.
Each report is a notification by a setting of an incidence of at least one positive Covid test in the nursery, pre-school or childminder setting.
No data is published on the number of individual cases among staff and children in a setting, meaning that the number of individual positive test cases among staff and/or children could potentially be much higher.
Reported coronavirus (Covid-19) notifications by registered early years and childcare settings
| Week commencing | Number of reports |
| 31/05/21 | 135 |
| 7/06/21 | 269 |
| 14/06/21 | 395 |
| 21/06/21 | 643 |
Source: Ofsted
Covid-19 study
The publication of the latest statistics comes after research suggests the overall risk of children becoming severely ill or dying from Coronavirus is ‘extremely low’.
After analysing England’s public health data, scientists from University College London, and the universities of York, Bristol and Liverpool, found that 25 under-18s died from Covid-19 during the first 12 months of the pandemic.
Those with multiple chronic illnesses and neuro-disabilities were the most affected, however the risk remained low, the study found.
- The Ofsted statistics are available here