A health worker draws a heart on the National Covid Memorial Wall
(Picture: PA)The UK has recorded another 43 coronavirus deaths with 4,052 new cases.
It bring the total death from the disease to 126,713 - the fifth highest in the world behind the US, Brazil, Mexico and India.
However the daily figure is less than half the number registered last Wednesday - 98 - and less than a third of the 141 coronavirus-related fatalities reported on Wednesday, March 17.
Some 332 deaths have been recorded in the past seven days, which is 40 per cent fewer than the previous week.
The UK also administered 224,950 first doses of the vaccine, along with 270,526 second doses.
It comes as Public Health England medical director Dr Yvonne Doyle warned that tens of thousands of people are still becoming infected with Covid-19 each week.
She said: “It is encouraging that the death rate is falling, but there are still as many people in hospital now as there were at the start of the second wave, and tens of thousands of us are getting infected every week and could become seriously ill.
“As restrictions lift and the weather improves, we cannot drop our guard. We’re not out of the woods quite yet.
“Until all of us are protected it remains essential to follow the steps we know stop the virus from spreading. Kill it by washing your hands, block it by wearing your mask, and maintain a safe social distance in the open air.
“Case numbers are still high in certain places and looking forward they are certainly not predictable. So your actions are still saving lives.”
Meanwhile, people across England are enjoying the good weather amid a major relaxation of coronavirus restrictions.
Busy scenes have been recorded in parks and beaches across the country, with authorities quick to enforce the remaining coronavirus restrictions on gatherings.
Indeed, Nottingham has closed two of its parks after “appalling scenes” of large crowds gathering.
