Covid cases are "plateauing" in the south of England - but about one in 15 are still infected, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) chief medical adviser has said.
Dr Susan Hopkins also said we are seeing a slow down in the number of admissions to hospital.
The latest figures released yesterday showed 99,652 people had tested positive for Covid in the UK, while the number of deaths increased by 270.
Dr Hopkins told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There is still a high rate of infection around the country, about one in 15 in England, and about one in 20 in other parts of the UK.
"We see that infections are plateauing in the community, which is good, in London and the south east and the east of England.
"There are still risings, but much slower in the northern parts of the country.
"All of that means we are seeing a slow down in the number of admissions to hospital but they are slowing down rather than reversing at the moment, so there are still more than 2,000 admissions to hospital across the UK, and nearly 2,500 yesterday."
Dr Hopkins said hospitals had been able to discharge patients "faster" due to Omicron being milder than previous coronavirus variants but that, with around 15,500 people in hospital last week, the NHS remains under "a lot of pressure", with some trusts "unable to do much of their elective care", a situation exacerbated by staff absences.
Dr Chris Smith, a consultant virologist and lecturer based at Cambridge University, said current coronavirus data gives him "great cause for optimism".
He told BBC Breakfast: "The number of people who are going into intensive care or are on mechanical ventilation beds is actually dropping. It has remained flat.
"Now that could be because Omicron hasn't had a chance to bite yet and there will be an uptick later.
"On the other hand, it may be that we are following the trajectory of South Africa, which we seem to be so far, which is they saw a much fewer translation of hospital cases into intensive care beds cases. So let's hope that carries on.
"This gives me great cause for optimism because I think we are getting to a point now where thanks to vaccination, where 96% of the country we're told now have antibodies against the coronavirus, thanks to vaccinations thanks to infection rate reinforcing our immunity we are getting to a point where the population have sufficient immunity that we can fend off the infection when we get it much better than we could previously.
"So we don't see that strong connection of cases turning into consequences."
