UK cases continue to plunge, Plan B curbs may soon be lifted, and WHO says light at end of tunnel
Hurrah! It’s three doses of Covid cheer as UK cases continue to plunge, Plan B curbs may soon be lifted, and WHO says there is light at end of the tunnel
Professor Mike Tildesley says latest Covid figures are ‘cautiously good news’Another 84,429 cases reported in UK yesterday, down from 142,224 last MondayAcademic says new variants more transmissible, but also generally milderFall in cases hints at end of Plan B restrictions and the end of pandemic in sight
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A triple dose of Covid optimism arrived yesterday with cases falling further, hints that Plan B may soon be lifted and the end of the pandemic coming into view.
A leading government adviser said a 41 per cent weekly decline in infections indicated the Omicron wave might well be ‘turning around’.
Professor Mike Tildesley said the latest figures were ‘cautiously good news’ and Britain might have a flu-type relationship with the virus by the end of the year.
Another 84,429 cases of Covid-19 were reported across the UK yesterday compared with 142,224 last Monday and 218,724 on January 4.
‘It does look like across the whole of the country cases do seem to be falling,’ Professor Tildesley told BBC Breakfast.
‘I would say we probably need about an extra week of data to really see the effect of children going back to school but if we still see that over the next week or so, I’d be pretty confident that we are seeing this wave turning around.’
Asked whether changes in testing rules, leading to fewer PCR swabs, may have contributed to the drop in cases, he replied: ‘Even taking into account any changes in testing, I think it is pretty clear the Omicron wave is slowing down.
‘If this wave starts to turn around and hopefully as we get towards the warmer weather, we can start to see these restrictions removed and we can have more of a discussion about what living with Covid is going to be like.’
Professor Mike Tildesley, a University of Warwick academic and leading government adviser, said the latest Covid figures were ‘cautiously good news’
Professor Tildesley (pictured during an appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain last year), says he hopes we will have a ‘flu-type relationship with Covid’
The University of Warwick academic, who is a member of the government modelling advisory group SPI-M, said new variants of viruses tended to be more transmissible but also generally milder.
He added: ‘So my hope is that, as we get further into this year and next year, we are dealing with milder versions of Covid and hopefully we have more of a flu-type relationship with Covid.’
Hospitals in England made 1,604 Covid-19 admissions on Saturday, down from 1,862 on the same day last week.
Wards had 16,621 virus patients, down from 17,120 a week earlier. However, another 85 people have died after testing positive.
Downing Street said there were ‘encouraging signs’ in the data as Boris Johnson considered whether England’s Plan B restrictions can be lifted on January 26, when they are due to expire.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the ‘maximum amount of time possible’ would be given to prepare for any changes in the rules.
‘In terms of the data, there are some encouraging signs that infections are falling across the country,’ the spokesman said.
Nadhim Zahawi said it was ‘looking positive’ for Plan B measures to be lifted on January 26. But the Education Secretary told BBC Breakfast:
‘If you look at infection rates, they remain high, hospitalisations are still high, touching 20,000 people in hospital, but it feels like they’re plateauing.
‘The good news is the number of people in ICU has been coming down, certainly in London, which was the epicentre.’
The latest data shows that the pessimistic estimates of some experts were wildly inaccurate.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine forecast more than 120,000 Covid patients could be in hospital at the peak of the Omicron wave, if booster jabs proved effective and no additional measures other than Plan B were introduced.
Over the past month, bed occupancy peaked at just 17,120 in England.
The University of Warwick forecast more than 20,000 Covid patients could be admitted to hospital every day – but the highest figure so far has been 2,370.
