OMICRON is “disappearing” across the UK other than one region, with hopes Plan B will be lifted within days.

The super-mutant strain is losing its grip, data suggest, giving experts cautious optimism.

Some 208,000 people were catching symptomatic Covid every day at the peak of the wave.

But this has now reduced to 155,000, according to estimates from the ZOE COVID Symptom Study, which tracks the outbreak using millions of app users’ data.

Prof Tim Spector, an epidemiologist who leads the research, wrote on Twitter: “Zoe shows Omicron cases disappearing fast all over the U.K. except NEast – down from peak of 208000 to 155000 per day so still high but looking good.”

The North East is reporting the highest case numbers in all of the UK, with almost double the case rate (2,015 per 100,000) than London (1,161).

The region saw a growth in Omicron behind the capital – which bore the brunt of the variant when it first emerged in early December, before it spread across the country.

But the Government coronavirus dashboard shows that in the North East, cases have been receding for around a week.

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The dashboard shows that 152,000 people are diagnosed with Covid per day, on average, in the UK.

It rapidly came down from a peak of 192,500 on January 1.

The latest data shows cases have halved in two weeks, with a 38 per cent drop over the last seven days.

Turning the tide

A leading expert advising the Government has said the Omicron wave may well be “turning around” as it “does look like cases are falling across the country”.

Prof Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick and a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M), said that the latest case figures were “cautiously good news”.

He hoped the country may have a “flu-type” relationship with the virus by the end of the year.

Prof Tildesley told BBC Breakfast: “We have had very, very high case numbers throughout late December and early January – we peaked about 200,000 at one point.

“We do now seem to be a little bit beyond that.

“Yesterday was a Sunday and we were in the region of 70,000 (cases) which is a lot lower than previous Sundays, so I think even taking into account any changes in testing, I think it is pretty clear that the Omicron wave is slowing down.”

Prof Tildesley said the effect of children going back to school was still not clear, but would become so in around a week.

He said: “We’re still only two weeks since children went 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.”

It bodes well for the revisiting of Covid restrictions on January 26, when compulsory face masks, vaccine passports and working from home could be lifted.  

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said it was “looking positive” and insisted No 10 is "confident" the country can start to ditch wider Plan B restrictions from next Wednesday.

He said he doesn't want the requirement for face coverings in classrooms to stay "a day longer than necessary".

Mr Zahawi told BBC Breakfast this morning: "The numbers are looking positive. I'm confident that when we review this we'll be in a much better place to lift some of these restrictions.

"I think we are witnessing the transition of this virus from pandemic to endemic.”

Pressed on whether the wind is "blowing in the direction" of ending the rules, he added: "It certainly is."

Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden also said on Sunday the “signs are encouraging” for lifting Covid restrictions in England at the end of the month.

Mr Dowden told Sky News there was “some very promising data” on Omicron that “gives us pause for hope and optimism that we may be emerging from the worst”.

It comes as the booster programme reaches new heights, with 16 and 17-year-olds eligible for their top-up doses as of Monday.

Clinically vulnerable 12 to 15-years-olds who are most at risk from coronavirus will also be able to get their Covid booster jabs today.

Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.

The Sun's Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits' arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions.

Cautious optimism 

It comes after Dr Susan Hopkins said there were signs of “plateauing” numbers of Covid infections in the south of England.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) chief medical adviser told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Sunday: “There is still a high rate of infection around the country, about one in 15 in England, and about one in 20 in other parts of the UK.

“We see that infections are plateauing in the community, which is good, in London and the south east and the east of England.

“There are still risings, but much slower in the northern parts of the country.”

Prof Linda Bauld, a professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh and chief social policy adviser to the Scottish government, has said Omicron cases appear to be “stabilising”.

She told BBC Breakfast on Saturday: “In fact, yesterday I think was the last day, the first day for a while we’ve had less than 100,000 cases so things seem to moving in the right direction.”

All experts cautioned that hospital patients were still high.

Prof Tildesley: “Hospital admissions are still relatively high albeit there is some evidence that maybe they’re plateauing or possibly going down in London, which is cautiously good news.”

Dr Hopkins said hospitals had been able to discharge patients “faster” due to Omicron being milder than previous coronavirus variants.

But she added that, with around 15,500 people in hospital last week, the NHS remains under “a lot of pressure”.

Speaking of admissions, Prof Hopkins said: “They are slowing down rather than reversing at the moment, so there are still more than 2,000 admissions to hospital across the UK, and nearly 2,500 yesterday.”

Deaths, on the other hand, have been increasing very slowly since mid-December.

Prof Bauld explained the figure was a “lagging indicator” – as deaths always increase behind cases – and hopes they will decline.

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