COVID cases in England have plummeted by 800,000 in a week as Omicron peaks in almost all age groups.

Infections have fallen from 3.7million last week to 2.9million today, in another promising sign the country is moving beyond the grip of the variant.

The latest Office for National Statistics shows one in 20 people had the virus in the last week in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland – with one in 25 catching the bug in Wales.

This is especially encouraging considering just two weeks ago one in 12 people in London were thought to be positive.

Cases are still high, but have fallen considerably compared to the start of the year.

Sarah Crofts, Head of Analytical Outputs for the Covid-19 Infection Survey said: “Our latest figures show a welcome decrease in infections across most parts of the UK and among all age groups apart from younger children.  

"We will continue to closely monitor the data to see if this week’s decrease carries forward.”

It comes as Boris Johnson is set to rip up Plan B restrictions in a major statement this afternoon.

The PM confirmed working from home guidance and vaccine passports will be scrapped next Wednesday, with the measures set to expire.

Most read in Health

Mask-wearing rules are likely to stay on public transport, but not by law anymore and instead recommended through guidance.

Cabinet Ministers met this morning to flesh out the final changes ahead of the PM's update to MPs at 12.30pm.

Covid cases are falling as experts grow increasingly confident the country is over the hump of Omicron.

A string of hugely positive studies show Omicron is milder than other strains in the vaccinated, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.

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.

Sage member Professor Andrew Hayward said: “It looks like the Omicron variant, by becoming more transmissible, that it’s also become less severe, and we would hope that’s the general direction of travel.”

Yesterday, the UK's daily Covid cases dropped 21 per cent on last week.

There were 94,432 new cases in the past 24 hours, with 438 fatalities also recorded.

Deaths have risen compared to the past few days, but are still not near the levels seen in the Alpha peak last year of over 1,000.

This fits with the pattern of a Covid wave, however – a few weeks on from high cases, some extra deaths will now sadly catch up for those harder hit with the virus.

Dr Julian Tang, Honorary Associate Professor/Clinical Virologist, Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester, said: "Even with the sporadic appearance of more locally-restricted variants, like Beta (from South Africa) and Gamma (from Brazil), which eventually did not spread much beyond their original populations – overall, the more globally spreading Alpha (from UK), Delta (from India) and Omicron (from South Africa) variants are becoming more transmissible and less severe.

“Note that any such variant will eventually out-compete any more serious variant that keeps people in bed – as opposed to being mild enough to allow them to continue mixing in society.

“The pattern with Omicron that we are seeing in the (admittedly, now well-vaccinated) UK population is a move towards less severe, more transmissible variant that is not requiring hospitalisation for most people. 

So the level of restrictions will reflect the balance between preserving economic growth, social and psychological welfare and educational requirements."

Source: Read Full Article