London records two Covid deaths in lowest daily jump since September
London recorded two Covid deaths in the past 24 hours, signalling the lowest daily fatality count since the beginning of September.
It marks the eleventh day in a row that the capital has reported single-digit coronavirus deaths, hailing a dramatic drop from a record 204 coronavirus-related fatalities reported in London on 19 January.
The figure also rivals the seven-day average on the day pubs, bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen last summer after England’s first national lockdown.
The number of coronavirus cases in London has also plummeted from a peak of almost 20,000 on 29 December to 480 yesterday.
It comes as the UK has seen a significant fall in Covid cases, deaths and hospitalisations over the past few weeks as the nation’s largest ever vaccination programme begins to bear fruit.
Deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test have fallen one hundred-fold over the past two months, with 17 fatalities reported in Britain yesterday.
Almost 28m people across the country have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine, including all top four priority groups.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked “everyone involved” in the vaccine rollout yesterday, following a record 844,285 vaccine doses administered on Sunday.
Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, added: “In just one day we vaccinated the equivalent of the entire adult populations of Liverpool, Southampton and Oxford combined.”
The figures will come as a major boost to the Prime Minister, who has insisted the government will prioritise “data not dates” in plans to lift lockdown restrictions.
Johnson has said there is “no credible route to a zero-Covid Britain or indeed a zero-Covid world,” but that the roadmap will provide a “cautious but irreversible” timeline for easing current lockdown measures.
“Stay at home” orders are set to be ditched from Monday next week, when the government will instead encourage people to “stay local” where they can.
Outdoor sports facilities including tennis courts and football pitches will also reopen on 29 March, with the return to the rule of six for outdoor gatherings.
It coms after separate data released last week showed the level of antibodies across the country has hit fresh heights as a result of the vaccine programme.
London currently has the second-highest level of antibodies of any region in England, with around 36 per cent of people in the capital thought to have some level of protection against Covid.
Meanwhile, one in three people in England are estimated to have coronavirus antibodies either from past infection or vaccination, according to Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) latest infection survey.