Covid restrictions lead to 95% drop in England’s winter flu cases

Social distancing and hand-washing also quash deadly disease in Americas and southern Africa and Pacific region

A woman receives a flu vaccine at a drive-through flu inoculation clinic in Little France, Edinburgh. Getty Images

The number of people suffering from the flu in England has plunged more than 95 per cent to its lowest level in more than 130 years.

Experts said the trend is likely because of Covid-19 restrictions, as well as record levels of people receiving influenza vaccines ahead of winter.

According to the Royal College of General Practitioners, the professional body for family doctors, the number of flu-like illnesses reported to GPs was 1.1 per 100,000 people, compared with a five-year average of 27 per 100,000.

Only 42 people reported flu-like illnesses out of four million patients at 392 GP surgeries in England, the data showed.

There are normally thousands of people in British hospitals with the flu at this time of year but in the second week of January the number of such hospital admissions was zero.

Worldwide, about a billion people get the flu each year but the World Health Organisation predicts “less than a tenth” of that figure this year.

Prof Martin Marshall, chairman of the RCGP, said coronavirus measures such as hand-washing and working from home were likely to be the main reason the flu was not as prevalent this year.

He said that there had been “excellent” uptake of the flu vaccine, with more than 80 per cent of over-65s receiving the shot.

"Whilst a staggering figure, it makes sense when you consider the lockdown restrictions, social distancing measures, and increased focus on maintaining good hygiene practices we are seeing at the moment, which will work to stop the spread of contagious illnesses such as colds and flu, as well as Covid-19," he told The Times.

In the US, flu transmission is also down on previous years. The Centre for Disease Control said between September and December, 2019, there were more than 65,000 flu cases. During the same period in 2020, there were just 1,000.

Meanwhile, the Pacific region, South America and southern Africa experienced very low levels of influenza during the southern winter.

In pictures - coronavirus in the UK