DAILY COVID cases have dropped by 65 per cent in one month, with a further 39,000 reported today.
Infections have more than halved since the 112,458 recorded on Tuesday, February 1.
The Government dashboard also reported another 194 deaths today, 11 per cent down on the figure reported this time last month.
The UK Health and Security Agency announced this afternoon that there have been 231,973 Covid cases across the past seven days.
It’s almost 24 per cent down on the week prior, in further signs the outbreak is in retreat.
Covid hospital admissions are also spiralling, thanks to life-saving vaccines.
The average is now around 1,100 a day in the UK after peaking at almost 2,300 in January.
And the UK daily deaths average, which is calculated over a week, is now below 100, at 93 per day. That is the lowest since August 13.
The Government has begun winding down it’s publication of Covid data.
Daily cases will no longer be reported at the weekend, and instead be lumped into Monday’s figures.
The dashboard will continue to be updated as normal between Tuesday and Friday.
It comes as separate data from the Office for National Statistics confirms deaths are tumbling in England and Wales.
A total of 863 deaths involving Covid were registered in England and Wales in the week ending February 18, down 19 per cent on the previous seven days – the fourth week-on-week fall in a row.
It’s a stark contrast to this time last year, when thousands of deaths were occurring every day.
Some 8,433 deaths involving Covid-19 were registered in England and Wales in the week to January 29 2021, during the second wave peak.
Meanwhile, maps show how the Omicron “stealth variant” has gained its dominance over the past weeks, and where the hotspots are.
BA.2, as it has been labelled, now accounts for more cases of Covid than any other strain.
A risk assessment published by UKHSA on Friday said “BA.2 is now dominant in England”.
It is very similar to its relative Omicron BA.1, which caused a huge surge in infections over December, and was previously the most prevalent.
BA.2 spreads an estimated 30 to 60 per cent faster than BA.1, the World Health Organization has said.
But there is no evidence to show it causes more severe disease, with the Omicron lineage of Covid shown to be milder than Delta.
The Wellcome Sanger Institute, which produces the maps, reveals cases are spread across England, with the most centred in the South West, South East, London and West Midlands.
Plymouth is reporting an estimated 1,600 cases per week, followed by Bristol, with 1,500.
