Confirmed cases of coronavirus in England are at their lowest level since September after a 19% drop in a week.
A total of 68,738 people tested positive for Covid-19 in England at least once in the week to February 24, according to Test and Trace.
That is down from 84,546 the previous week and the lowest number since the week to September 30.
But despite the positive news, Chancellor Rishi Sunak today said the roadmap to ease lockdown could still be delayed.
Boris Johnson ’s plan claims pub beer gardens could open from April 12 at the earliest with all legal restrictions ending from June 21.
But the Budget yesterday extended support schemes until the end of September - a far longer time period.
Mr Sunak said today: “I wanted people to have the reassurance that we were 'going long', beyond the end of the road map, because of course things might change.
"We wanted to accommodate even the most cautious view of exiting from the restrictions. Hopefully that won't happen.”
He added: “Just because the restrictions end, businesses will still need to take time to recover. Things will take a bit of time to get back to the way they were, so I think it is important to provide that extra cushion."
Today’s Test and Trace figures show 83% of in-person tests get results within 24 hours, a slight drop on 87% the previous week.
The turnaround time for home test kits has also lengthened to 37 hours after hitting a low of 33 hours last week.
Meanwhile 2.2 million lateral flow device (LFD) tests for Covid-19, or rapid tests, were conducted in England in the week to February 24, according to the latest Test and Trace figures.
This is up from 1.8 million rapid tests in the previous week, and is the third highest weekly total since rapid testing began.
The Department of Health said the week-on-week rise coincided with the end of school half-term holidays.
LFD tests are swab tests that give results in 30 minutes or less, without the need for processing in a laboratory.
By contrast, 1.1 million polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were conducted in the week to February 24 - the lowest number since the week to October 14. PCR tests are swab tests that are processed in a laboratory.
This is the fifth successive week in which more LFD tests were conducted than PCR tests.
