The COVID-19 pandemic affected the health of millions of people across the country – at the time of publication, there have been over 20 million confirmed cases of the virus in England and just over 170,000 deaths within 28 days of a positive test,1 and the ONS estimate that 71% of the population have contracted the virus.2 Thinking about young people specifically, just over 1.3 million 15- to 19-year-olds are estimated to have had COVID-19 since February 2020.3
Socio-economic circumstances, like working in a routine occupation, being a key worker and living in overcrowded conditions have previously been found to be associated with increased risk of exposure, with those living in the 10% most deprived areas almost four times as likely to die from the virus compared to those in the least deprived areas.4 People with Black, Asian or other minority ethnicities are also at increased risk both of catching COVID-19 and having more severe symptoms.5
