Infection rates drop 80% ahead of PM’s plan to lift lockdown
CORONAVIRUS infection rates have fallen by almost 80 per cent in some areas and age groups, Public Health England (PHE) has revealed.
The pattern is matched by hospital admission rates which are plunging in all areas and all age groups, while the total number of new cases has dropped to a third of its level at the peak of the pandemic in January.
Imperial College London’s React study also shows an 80 per cent fall in infections across London, the southeast and the West Midlands during the past six weeks.
Prime minister Boris Johnson is due to outline his plan for a release from lockdown on Monday.
Hopes for an early reopening of schools were boosted by figures showing infection rates in children dropping to 86 per 100,000 – their lowest level since September.
However, PHE director Yvonne Doyle warned: ‘This could increase very quickly if we do not follow the current measures. The number of new infections is higher than the end of September and remains concerning.’
Infection rates fell in 147 out 149 English local authority areas in the week to February 14, with rates in the south-east and south-west dropping below 100 per 100,000 for the first time since October.
The daily death toll dropped to 454 yesterday from 678 a week earlier, and the number of first vaccinations reached 16.4million after a record total for a Wednesday.
But surge testing is to be rolled out in parts of Leeds after the South African variant was discovered in the city, following cases in Norfolk, Southampton and Surrey earlier this week.
NHS Test and Trace has reported 106,474 new cases in the week to February 10, a 30 per cent drop in a week.
The React Study calculated infection levels are halving every two weeks and could push the number of new cases below 1,000 per week by April.
Imperial College’s Prof Paul Elliott said: ‘Through contact tracing you can really keep control of the virus but it’s unlikely we’re going to get a situation like in New Zealand where it’s essentially Covid-free.’
NHS England figures show 99.3 per cent of England’s 75- to 79-year-olds have now had their first vaccine dose.
The figure drops to 93 per cent among the over-80s, and just 81 per cent of over-80s in London.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said its death rate was still 15 times higher than at the end of the first lockdown and urged the PM to ‘learn the lessons of the past’ before easing restrictions.
A DRUNK husband who broke his wife’s skull for refusing to clean up his sick has been jailed – despite her plea for mercy.
Building firm boss Shaun McCallion, 44, and Victoria, 42, had just got back from a boozy Valentine’s night out.
She went to bed but heard him call for help after being sick on the floor. When she told him, ‘What do you expect me to do about it?’ McCallion pushed her into a window at their £ 00,000 home. He later told police: ‘She knows I’m not the sort of person to shout at.’
Jailing him for 18 months at Coventry crown court, judge Andrew Lockhart told him: ‘Her injuries describe a full-on head-first collision with the glass.’
As he was led to the cells, Victoria yelled: ‘This isn’t going to help anyone. Why is no one listening to me?’