Another 95 people die with Covid in the UK
Covid-19 cases have almost halved in the last month - down from 12,057 on February 18.
Another 95 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19, the latest Government figures show.
Cases have almost halved in the last month, with the UK today recording 6,303 positive results – down from 12,057 on February 18.
A total of 4,280,882 have tested positive since the beginning of the UK’s outbreak.
It comes after Test and Trace figures showed that Covid-19 cases in England have dropped to their lowest since September.
The stats are the first to include the huge hike in the number of tests carried out on teachers and pupils as schools went back on March 8.
Today’s figures mean 125,926 have now died with the virus in the UK since the start of the pandemic. The tally rises to 146,487 when taking into account all fatalities that listed Covid-19 on the death certificate.
Meanwhile, another 462,246 people have received a vaccine.
Government data up to March 17 shows that of the 27,614,526 vaccines given in the UK so far, 25,735,472 were first doses, while 1,879,054 were second.
The UK’s medicines regulator today urged the public to continue receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a list of European countries halted the jab.
Following a ‘rigorous scientific review’, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there is no evidence to suggest that blood clots are caused by the vaccine.
The MHRA, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the benefits of the vaccine in preventing Covid-19 ‘far outweigh the risks’.
The EMA said it has come to a ‘clear scientific conclusion’ that the vaccine is ‘safe and effective’.
However, Executive Director Emer Cook said that although the vaccine is not associated with an increased risk of blood clots in general, it may still be linked to a small number of ‘rare and unusual’ clotting disorders.
‘We still cannot rule out definitively a link between these cases and the vaccine’, she said.
In a bid to boost public confidence around the vaccine, Boris Johnson today said he will be receiving his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine tomorrow.
He promised the easing of England’s lockdown will not be changed despite fears surrounding vaccine supplies.
Mr Johnson told a Downing Street press conference this afternoon that although the UK ‘will receive slightly fewer vaccines in April than in March’, the country is still on track to meet its vaccination targets.
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