Covid infection levels in England have jumped this week, although remaining at historically low levels. With 1 in every 1549 people in England now infected as of 2 August, we have increased the BuDS Covid infection risk level from Low to Moderately Low. Other respiratory viruses remain at low levels, but again there has been a very slight rise.
Infection Risk in Community Remains Generally Low
While Covid levels have increased, the overall level remains historically low. We do not think the data yet shows any sign of a Covid wave as such. Levels are simply bumping a little higher than the exceptionally low levels we have seen earlier in the summer.
We have adjusted our advice on precautions to reflect the higher level of infection risk. We now strongly recommend precautions for everyone in Highest Risk places, and precautions for Covid-Cautious people in High-Risk places, but in other places people may consider that a lower level of precautions is appropriate. Highest Risk places include hospitals & other medical buildings, on public transport, and in very large indoor stadiums or theatres. High risk places include large schools, universities and colleges (when in use), cinemas, theatres, indoor performing arts venues, and large indoor shopping centres. In all other places, you are still statistically unlikely to encounter a person with Covid on a single visit.
Obviously, if you work or regularly visit a highest or high-risk indoor place, your risk of encountering a person with Covid is much higher, and you should take precautions accordingly. Remember also that high traffic places, like public transport and hospitals, are more likely to have residual virus in the air from infected people passing through, which is why we continue to advise precautions in these areas.
Remember, these are only our recommendations, and everyone is free to choose the level of Covid precaution that feels right for them. We only advise on infection risk (how likely it is that you will meet someone with Covid), not on how serious a Covid infection might be for you.
The table below gives full information and explains what we mean by highest, high, medium-high, medium, and lower-risk indoor places.
Covid Autumn Boosters Start in October
NHS Covid vaccine boosters will start becoming available in October for immune-suppressed people, people living in old age care homes, and people aged 75 and over. If you are not eligible for the NHS Covid autumn booster, BuDS strongly recommends that you consider a private vaccination from a pharmacy, as this will give you important protection against current Covid variants.
Managing Your Risk
Covid is an airborne virus. This means that it mainly spreads in the air that you breathe.
Things you can do to protect yourself against Covid infection include:
- Wearing a PPE respiratory mask indoors. Worn correctly, respiratory masks (rated FFP2/FFP3 or N95/99) filter airborne viruses out of the air that you breathe.
- Improving fresh air ventilation. Fresh air, especially moving fresh air, very effectively dilutes and breaks up the clouds of Covid virus in the air, making it less likely that you will inhale enough virus to catch Covid.
- Using a HEPA filter. HEPA filters suck in the air, filter out viruses like Covid (and other particles), and blow out clean air. HEPA filters are very useful in cleaning the air in rooms with poor fresh air ventilation.
- Avoiding higher-risk areas. If you don’t go to areas where there is likely to be a lot of virus, you won’t catch it.
- Enjoy the outdoors. It is extremely difficult to catch Covid outside, because the fresh moving air immediately disrupts and dilutes the Covid virus which other people may breathe out. As long as you are not in a dense crowd of people who are breathing directly into your face, you do not need to take precautions against catching Covid outdoors.
Even if you are relaxing some precautions because Covid infection levels are currently low, you may wish to still use other precautions. For example, you may decide not to mask in a café, but to still sit near an open window or to use a HEPA filter.
Detailed Covid Infection Risk Analysis
| Infection Risk | Places | Infection Risk factors | Likely number of Covid infected people on a single visit/journey this week | Risk mitigations (things you can do to protect yourself) |
| Highest | Hospitals & other medical buildings, on buses and trains and other public transport, and in very large indoor stadiums or theatres. | Used by very large numbers of people who are not taking precautions, and/or used by sick people who are much more likely to have Covid. Often poorly ventilated spaces. | You are statistically likely to encounter more than one infected person every time you visit. When you visit, statistically there are likely to be 2 to 3 infected people. | Minimise visits. Maximise fresh air ventilation (open windows if possible, etc). We strongly recommend that everyone wears a PPE respiratory mask (FFP2/3 rated) on every visit to these highest-risk places in view of the higher infection risk in those areas. |
| High | Schools, universities and colleges, cinemas, theatres, indoor performing arts venues, large indoor shopping centres | Used by large numbers of people who are not taking precautions. Typically poorly ventilated. | You are statistically unlikely to encounter an infected person on a single visit, although the risk cannot be excluded. After 2 visits, statistically you are likely to encounter one infected person over both visits. | Everyone should take sensible precautions such as minimising visits and maximising fresh air ventilation, such as opening windows and doors or being near them. We recommend Covid precautions including a respiratory mask for Covid-cautious people using these spaces, but other people may feel it is currently safe enough for them to relax some precautions in view of the lower infection risk. |
| Medium-high | Large bars and clubs, large supermarkets, local indoor shopping centres, large office buildings | Used by large numbers of people, who are not taking precautions. Typically poorly ventilated. | You are statistically unlikely to encounter an infected person on a single although this risk cannot be excluded. After 1-2 visits, statistically you are likely to encounter one infected person over both of those visits. | Minimise visits. Maximise fresh air ventilation (open windows if possible, etc). Covid-cautious people using these spaces may wish to maintain use of a PPE respiratory mask. Most people may feel it is currently safe enough for them to remain unmasked in these spaces. |
| Medium | Medium-sized pubs, bars, clubs, and restaurants (100-200 seats or more), smaller supermarkets, smaller offices, individual larger shops | Used by medium numbers of people, who are not taking precautions. Typically poorly ventilated. | You are statistically unlikely to encounter an infected person, even on multiple visits, although this risk cannot be excluded. After 3 to 5 visits, statistically you are likely to encounter one infected person over all of those visits. | Minimise visits. Maximise fresh air ventilation (open windows if possible, etc). Most people may feel it is currently safe enough for them to remain unmasked in these spaces in view of the very low infection risk. However, highly Covid-cautious people using these spaces may wish to maintain use of a PPE respiratory mask. |
| Lower | Small pubs, bars & cafes (around 25 seats), small shops, infrequently used buildings e.g. churches (outside of services), buildings which, at the time of visit, have very few people inside them | Used by small numbers of people, who are not taking precautions. Can be poorly ventilated. | You are statistically unlikely to encounter an infected person, even on multiple visits, although this risk cannot be excluded. After 31 to 62 visits, statistically you are likely to encounter one infected person over all of those visits. | Minimise visits. Maximise fresh air ventilation (open windows if possible, etc). Most people may feel it is currently safe enough for them to remain unmasked in these spaces in view of the very low infection risk. However, highly Covid-cautious people using these spaces may wish to maintain use of a PPE respiratory mask. |
| Low | Outdoors (except when in a dense crowd) | The moving fresh air makes transmission of Covid from one person to another unlikely, except where two people are very close together. | The number of infected people is less relevant because the risk of transmission of Covid from one person to another outdoors is unlikely. | No precautions needed but avoid very close contact (under 1m) with potentially infected people. For complete peace of mind, remain 2m from potentially infected people. |
More Information
This is BuDS’ 283rd Covid risk assessment since the beginning of the pandemic. BuDS is the only organisation publishing free risk data for disabled and Covid-cautious people in England. We will update you on the situation again next week.
If you’d like to get our weekly Covid risk assessments direct to your email inbox, completely free of charge, you can subscribe here: https://budscovidinfo.substack.com/
To understand more about our Covid risk levels and what they mean, use this link: https://buds.org.uk/covid-19-risk-levels-in-bucks/
BuDS is not funded by grants to publish these weekly reports. To make a donation to help us continue these risk assessments, use this link: https://www.peoplesfundraising.com/fundraising/buds-covid-information-project-2026
For more Covid information and help, or if you’d like to know more about how we calculate risk, please contact BuDS and we will be happy to help.