THE UK may now have passed the peak of the third wave – after the number of new cases dropped for the fifth day in a row in a “reassuring” sign, experts say.
The number of people testing positive for Covid plunged from 49,000 last Sunday to 29,173 yesterday, building hopes Brits may be past the worst.
And it’s the first time cases have fallen below 30,000 since July 6.
The number of fatalities, however, was slightly higher, with 28 people losing their lives – three more than the previous Sunday.
The UK last saw five running days of dropping case numbers in February.
It’s understood ministers are “trying not to get too excited” about the drop – but there’s now “confidence” that things are heading in the right direction, Politico reports.
And the news suggests that claims Britain could hit 100,000 cases a day within weeks may not be realised.
It comes as:
- Boris Johnson is braced for further fury over proposed vaccine passports that would be a ‘big cultural change’
- The pingdemic ‘will leave supermarket shelves empty again in just weeks’ unless the staff crisis is solved, it’s claimed
- France could be amber on the UK’s travel traffic light system again soon – because the Beta variant ‘is less dangerous than initially thought’
- New Health Secretary Sajid Javid has apologised after saying the public ‘shouldn’t cower’ from Covid
- Boozy Brits went wild this weekend as clubs opened on a Friday and Saturday for the first time since March 2020
Today, Good Morning Britain medic Dr Hilary called the signs “really encouraging” – but warned “hospitalisations and deaths are on the rise”.
“It is encouraging and we’ll keep our fingers crossed, but the next week or two will be really critical,” he said.
“We’re seeing a lot more severe cases among younger people.
“It was a rarity to see people under 40 admitted to ICU at the beginning, but now, because of the large numbers of cases, we’re seeing more of them.”
Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, told the Daily Mail.: “This is looking like a reassuring trend, after five days of these falling numbers.
“The fall is much more dramatic than expected. There have been several experts warning of a disaster, but these figures strongly suggest otherwise.
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“It’s too early to see any signal in the data from Freedom Day, which may increase transmission, but this data suggests that we are coming out of this wave.
“It’s unlikely there will be any further surge from Freedom Day – if there is, it is likely only to be minor, and to probably last a matter of days.”
Meanwhile, vaccines are believes to have reduced waves of Covid deaths to ripples.
For example, on January 19 – the peak of the second wave – 1,359 people were reported to have died, while 39,467 tested positive for the virus.
The third wave has so far peaked on July 19, when 71 lives were lost. However, on that day a massive 46,338 people tested positive.
