Five Charts That Show The Current State Of Covid-19 In The UK
3 min read
Boris Johnson has announced that all Covid regulations could end this week — a month earlier than planned.
The final legal restrictions were due to end on 24 March, but Johnson is keen to bring the move forward, citing encouraging signs in the data.
"Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions including the legal requirements to self-isolate if you test positive a full month early," he told the Commons on 9 February.
The move is the latest stage in the lifting of restrictions after all Plan B Covid restrictions expired on 26 January.
The "Plan B" restrictions, introduced in December, were aimed at slowing the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, which has now peaked.
Ministers also significantly expanded the vaccine booster programme to all adults in a bid to increase protection from serious illness during the winter months.
But how is the Covid-19 data in England looking?
Which regions have the highest number of Covid-19 cases?
The number of Covid cases in many English regions peaked shortly after the Plan B restrictions were scrapped, and have since fallen back in line with the rates before Omicron took hold.
London and the South East, two of the regions most affected by the Omicron variant, still have the highest number of people with the virus.
9,389 new Covid cases were recorded in the South East on 16 February, while 6,153 were recorded in London.
This is significantly down, however, from the peak case numbers for these regions over the winter months.
The South East saw a peak of 25,780 cases on 31 December, while London hit 27,799 on 22 December.
Which region has the highest Covid death rate?
In England, the number of people dying within 28 days of a positive Covid test has fallen across every region since the end of Plan B restrictions.
Despite having the lowest number of new cases, the North East currently has the highest death rate.
The region recorded an average of 2.7 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test, recorded in the week up to 12 February.
This rate is almost double the national rate, which currently sits at 1.6 deaths over the same period.
The North East also saw the highest rolling death rate during the Omicron wave, peaking at 5.5 on 1 February.
How many people are being admitted to hospital with Covid?
Hospital admissions in England for Covid have been consistently falling every week since they peaked on 29 December.
1,120 people were admitted on 16 February, a significant fall from the Omicron wave high of 2,370.
Admissions rates still haven't fallen to the same level they were at when Plan B restrictions were brought in, however. On 11 December, 696 people were admitted.
How many people have been triple vaccinated?
As cases of Omicron soared across the country, Boris Johnson set forward the aim of giving one million booster vaccinations a day in a bid to avoid a New Year lockdown.
This target, however, was never hit. The booster campaign peaked at 968,665 administered on 21 December.
The number of boosters administered fell dramatically in the run-up to Christmas (although 10,480 were administered on the day itself).
Overall, 65.9% of those aged 12 and over have now had three doses of the Covid vaccine.
There are, however, sharp discrepancies across the country as to how much of the local population is vaccinated.
Seven out of 10 of the areas with the lowest vaccination rate are in London. The three are outside the capital Luton, Manchester and Birmingham.
Newham has the lowest vaccination rate in the country, with just 32.5% triple jabbed.
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