UK coronavirus deaths up by 521 as cases continue to drop

The UK has recorded just over 16,000 new coronavirus cases overnight – a drop of more than 1,000 on yesterday’s figure.

The Government confirmed another 16,022 postitive cases over the past 24 hours, compared to 17,555 on Thursday.

It marks a steady decrease in the number of Covid-19 infections reported across the country.

The total number of cases recorded over the past week is 38,936 fewer than over the previous seven days – a fall of 25 per cent.

It takes Britain’s total Covid-19 infection count since the start of the pandemic to 1,589,301.

However, positive trend in cases came as a further 521 deaths were also confirmed over the past 24 hours – a rise on yesterday’s count of 498.

It takes the country’s weekly death toll up by more than nine per cent on the previous seven days.

A total of 3,268 fatalities have been recorded over the past seven days – 286 more than the previous week.

The UK’s official Covid death toll now stands at 57,551.

But separate data published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been more than 72,000 deaths registered across Britain where the virus was mentioned on the death certificate.

The figures come as the UK’s latest reproduction number, or R rate, of coronavirus transmission was found to be falling closer to – or even below – the threshold of 1.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which advises the Government, said on Friday that the R rate for the UK as a whole is now between 0.9 and 1.

R represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect. When the figure is above 1, the Covid-19 epidemic will continue to grow but if it is below 1, it shows the outbreak is in retreat.

Last week, the R value was said to be between 1 and 1.1.

Experts believe that the R number is already below 1 in some places, particularly in parts of Yorkshire and potentially parts of the north-east as well as the north-west of England.

Meanwhile in London, it is between 1 and 1.1.

According to a Government adviser, the new Tier 3 and Tier 2 interventions, which are due to come into effect on December 2, should keep the R number below 1 in the run up to Christmas.

However, despite ministers signalling that the new tiered restrictions could be eased in parts of England before the peak of the festive period, one Sage advisers have warned there is little scope for widespread changes over the next couple of weeks.

The measures are scheduled to be reviewed on December 16, with Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick suggesting: "At that point we – advised by the experts – will look at each local authority area and see whether there is potential to move down the tiers.

But Sage member Professor John Edmunds said that the review date would still be too early to know if the new tiered restrictions were proving effective.

“I think we will still be seeing the effect of the lockdown at that point in time,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday.

“I can’t imagine there will be huge changes at that point, just simply because I don’t think we will have accumulated much data by then.”

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