King’s college Hospital in south London has been under strain but cases and hospital admissions are falling.
(Picture: AP)Cases of coronavirus have plunged 34.4 per cent in a week new figures released on Thursday reveal.
The Government said a further 242 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Thursday, bringing the UK total to 124,025.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have been 145,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
The Government also said that, as of 9am on Thursday, there had been a further 6,573 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.
It brings the total to 4,201,358.
Meanwhile NHS England data shows a total of 2,239,161 jabs were given to people in London between December 8 and March 3, including 2,147,388 first doses and 91,773 second doses.
This compares with 3,473,258 first doses and 115,627 second doses given to people in the Midlands, a total of 3,588,885.
However, vaccine take-up in London among people aged 80 and over continues to lag behind other regions of England, figures suggest.
An estimated 83.2 per cent of people in this age group in the capital have had their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, according to NHS England.
Take-up in all other regions is estimated to be at least 95 cent, with south-west England having the highest proportion at 98 per cent.
The figures were issued as the Welsh Government said First Minister Mark Drakeford is self-isolating “as a precaution” after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus.
Mr Drakeford appeared before the Welsh Affairs Committee on Thursday from an outbuilding at the bottom of his garden, where he lived alone earlier during the pandemic when his wife and mother-in-law were shielding.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The First Minister is self-isolating as a precaution after being in contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.”
