Another 48,000 UK Covid cases recorded in highest daily number for six months
Another 48,553 new Covid cases have been recorded in the UK – the highest daily number in six months.
A further 63 deaths were also recorded within 28 days of a positive test, the latest data by the Department of Health shows.
Today marks the highest daily number of infections since the peak of the country’s second wave on January 14, when 48,682 cases were reported.
Hospitalisations are also continuing to spike, with an almost 47% increase in the past week alone.
The surge in infections come just days before so-called ‘Freedom Day’ on Monday, when almost all legal Covid restrictions will be lifted.
Nightclubs will be allowed to reopen, the indoor rule of six will be scrapped, and people can start returning to the workplace.
Face masks will no longer be mandatory but the prime minister said he ‘expects’ people to continue using them in crowded or enclosed spaces.
But experts and politicians have raised concerns over the significant shift to ‘personal responsibility’, slamming the Government’s plans as ‘irresponsible’ and ‘reckless’.
The mayors of London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, North of Tyne, and West of England have revolted against Boris Johnson’s plans and enforced their own mask-wearing rules.
They have joined forces to make mask wearing a ‘condition of carriage’ which will apply to services such as the Underground and buses in London, the Metrolink tram in Greater Manchester, and the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Mr Johnson himself admitted that cases, hospitalisations and deaths will continue to increase as most of the remaining restrictions are lifted – but insisted there would never be a ‘good time’ to remove them.
He added that it was ‘only thanks’ to the speed of the vaccine programme that the Government can take the next step, as two-thirds of UK adults are now fully vaccinated.
More than 67% of the adult population are jabbed, with 35,341,428 having received a second dose.
A total of 46,097,464 Britons have had their first dose – 87.5% of adults in the UK.
However, medical director at Public Health England, Dr Yvonne Doyle, warned the public that although restrictions will lift next week, the virus has not disappeared.
She said: ‘Case and hospitalisation rates continue to rise. We must all be sensible. Remember it is safer to be outside when mixing with friends and family and when inside, open windows to help ventilation.
‘The best way to protect yourself is to have both doses of the vaccine as soon as you are offered. Do not delay.
‘We should all continue to get tested twice a week and anyone who has symptoms should seek a test immediately and stay at home while they await their result.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.