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Households with children were three times more likely to be hit by Covid as those without youngsters last month, according to more official data which lays bare the effect of schools reopening.
Data from the REACT study — which randomly tested more than 100,000 people up between September 9 and 27 — found around 1.37 per cent of homes with school-aged children saw someone test positive.
This compared to just 0.4 per cent in households of just adults, the Imperial College London study suggested.
Overall, the report found that the infection rate is growing among those aged under 18, and falling among those aged 18 to 54.
Prevalence across all age groups increased to 0.83 per cent, up from 0.63 per cent last month.
Experts said the trends reinforce the need to vaccinate over-12 — despite the data suggesting infections were falling in more vulnerable adults.
But the figures only cover up to the end of last month, with more recent statistics showing cases may have peaked in children but are beginning to rise in older age groups.
Department of Health data now show the number testing positive has fallen over the past week in primary and secondary-aged children.
Households with children were three times more likely to be hit by Covid as those without youngsters last month, according to more official data which lays bare the effect of schools reopening
Data from the REACT study — which randomly tested more than 100,000 people up between September 9 and 27 — showed around 2.55 per cent of 13- to 17-year-olds and 2.32 per cent of under-13s had the virus last month
Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest infection level, with 1.25 per cent thought to have Covid last
