Coronavirus cases are still spiralling downwards after falling in almost every region of England last week, official figures revealed today, as a separate report showed they dipped by 14 per cent across the nation.
Only Yorkshire saw its infections stabilise in the week ending March 14, according to a Public Health England report – and 51 out of 149 local authorities (34 per cent) saw their cases rise.
But the plateau in some areas was despite the number of tests carried out almost doubling because schools have reopened. The positivity rate – one of the best ways of tracking the size of the outbreak when swabbing increases – still fell in all regions, suggesting the second wave is still firmly in retreat.
And separate data from Test and Trace showed they had 39,118 positive cases transferred in the week ending March 10, the latest available, which was a drop of 14 per cent on the previous week. But this only covers three days of school testing, meaning the true effect of the surge in swabs will not be fully reflected in the figures.
Department of Health daily Covid figures have not shown a spike in cases, in another sign the outbreak is still shrinking. They have also shown the test positivity rate continues to decline in all regions.
It comes amid concerns Matt Hancock today finally confirmed a delayed shipment from India is behind a Covid vaccine shortage that will hit the UK in April and lead to first doses being all but halted for under-50s.
The UK was expecting another 5million doses of the Oxford-made vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturer, to complete its order for 10m but a ‘scheduled’ delivery of over 4m has been pushed back.
Narendra Modi’s Government in India is in control of exports, however, and the Serum Institute’s CEO Adar Poonawalla said they were told to keep them for their own citizens with the country facing the prospect of a second wave.
Last month Mr Poonawalla asked other countries to ‘be patient’ and said it had been asked to ‘prioritise the huge needs of India’ and poorer nations.
Public Health England data showed Covid cases shrunk in every region of England except Yorkshire last week. But the positivity rate – one of the best ways of tracking the size of the outbreak when swabbing increases – dropped in all regions
Covid cases have continued to tumble in England, with NHS Test and Trace seeing a 14 per cent fall in infections despite testing nearly doubling to 5.8million
The number of coronavirus tests increased by more than 85 per cent, as children across the country returned to school on March 8 and began regular rapid testing
NHS Test and Trace data show the number of contacts of people who tested positive for coronavirus identified by the contact-tracing system fell to 88,430, continuing the downward trend.
Overall, 81 per cent of contacts were reached by call handlers and told to self-isolate, with Thurrock in Essex seeing the most contacts successfully reached (90 per cent).
Only 13 areas of the country saw more than 88 per cent of contacts reached, all of which were in the South East or London.
They were: Essex, Sutton in London (both 89 per cent), Barking, Bexley, Bromley, Burton in London and Bracknell in Berkshire, Central Bedfordshire, East Sussex, Medway in Kent and Milton Keynes (all 88 per cent).
Areas in the North fared worse, with six areas having less than 70 per cent of contacts successfully told to move into self-isolation.
Bradford in Yorkshire and Oldham in Greater Manchester had the least, with just 67 per cent of contacts reached by call handlers.
Overall, 81 per cent of contacts were reached by call handlers and told to self-isolate, with Thurrock in Essex seeing the most contacts successfully reach with 90 per cent
They were followed by Newcastle (68 per cent) and Blackburn in Lancashire, Manchester and Nottingham (all 69 per cent).
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told last night’s Downing Street press conference that deaths were ‘falling so fast’ because of the highly-successful vaccines.
Pointing to new Public Health England’s analysis of the real-world impact of the jabs, he added: ‘After a single dose of either vaccine, protection against Covid-19 is around 60 per cent, that’s protection against getting it, protection against hospitalisation is around 80 per cent and protection against death is around 85 per cent.’
DOH data also showed another 433,320 first doses of the vaccine were administered today, bringing the total number of Britons with at least one dose of the vaccine to 25.2million.
Mr Hancock said he was ‘delighted’ that the UK had crossed the milestone in exactly 100 days after the launch of the mammoth operation. The NHS is now officially inviting all over-50s for their jab.
