Coronavirus cases fell by 14 per cent in England last week and dropped in almost every region of England, two official reports revealed today.
Only Yorkshire saw its infection rate stabilise in the week ending March 14, according to a Public Health England report — but 51 out of 149 local authorities (34 per cent) saw cases rise.
But this came in the face of a massive increase in the number of tests carried out because of schools reopening.
Test and Trace data showed 5.8million swabs were conducted in the week ending March 10 — up from 3.1million during the previous seven-day spell. Despite the massive spike in tests, cases fell by 14 per cent to 39,000.
PHE’s data on positivity rates — which shows whether a spike is down to increased testing — still fell in all regions, echoing swathes of data that shows the second wave is still firmly in retreat.
Official Government today also revealed daily Covid deaths almost halved in a week, with 95 fatalities. Cases also fell by 7 per cent to 6,303.
Public Health England data showed Covid cases shrunk in every region of England except Yorkshire last week. But the positivity rate – one of the best ways of tracking the size of the outbreak when swabbing increases – dropped in all regions
Their report also revealed that Covid infection rates were still falling among all age groups with a marked decrease among the over-80s, which have already received their first dose of the Covid vaccine
Covid cases have continued to tumble in England, with NHS Test and Trace seeing a 14 per cent fall in infections despite testing nearly doubling to 5.8million
It comes as Matt Hancock today admitted vaccine shortages in the UK were linked to a delay in an order for 5million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India. The Serum Institute of India today said they had been stalled by at least four weeks because the Indian Government was asking for more doses as it faces a second wave
Yorkshire had the highest infection rate in England (107.9 cases per 100,000 people), according to the report from Public Health England, while the North East had the second highest (76.3 per 100,000) and the East Midlands had the third highest (76.1 per 100,000).
The lowest case number was in the South West (30.3 per 100,000), followed by the South East (34.7 per 100,000) and London (36.9 per 100,000).
But the test positivity rate declined in all regions even as Covid swabbing doubled because of the return of schools. The Government has said all pupils and teachers must test themselves for the virus twice a week in order to avoid further outbreaks. Ministers hope the policy should also root out asymptomatic infections – where someone has the virus but suffers no symptoms.
The South West and the South East have the lowest positivity rate (0.3 per cent), followed by the East of England and London (0.4 per cent) and the West Midlands (0.6 per cent).
The North West and the East Midlands had the fourth-lowest rate (0.7 per cent), and the North East had the fifth-lowest rate (0.7 per cent).
Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest test positivity rate in England (1.1 per cent).
In terms of local authorities, the Isle of Wight recorded the highest spike in infections in the country when the rate spiked by 121 per cent to 21.9 per 100,000.
But this was still a very low rate overall – linked to 30 cases. It is thought these may have been thrown up by testing in schools, with local newspaper the County Press reporting new cases have been detected at several schools on the island.
It was followed by Solihull, outside Birmingham, where they leapt by 57 per cent to 85.5 per 100,000, and Southampton where they jumped by 56 per cent to 91.4 per 100,000.
Figures also showed Covid infection rates fell in every age group over 20 last week, with the sharpest drop among the over-80s who have already received their first dose of the vaccine.
But case rates jumped among those aged between 0 and 19, with the highest rise among people aged between 10 to 19 (by 36 per cent). Experts suggested this was also linked to testing in schools.
NHS Test and Trace data show the number of contacts of people who tested positive for coronavirus identified by the contact-tracing system fell to 88,430, continuing the downward trend.
Overall, 81 per cent of contacts were reached by call handlers and told to self-isolate, with Thurrock in Essex seeing the most contacts successfully reached (90 per cent).
Only 13 areas of the country saw more than 88 per cent of contacts reached, all of which were in the South East or London.
They were: Essex, Sutton in London (both 89 per cent), Barking, Bexley, Bromley, Burton in London and Bracknell in Berkshire, Central Bedfordshire, East Sussex, Medway in Kent and Milton Keynes (all 88 per cent).
Areas in the North fared worse, with six areas having less than 70 per cent of contacts successfully told to move into self-isolation.
Bradford in Yorkshire and Oldham in Greater Manchester had the least, with just 67 per cent of contacts reached by call handlers.
They were followed by Newcastle (68 per cent) and Blackburn in Lancashire, Manchester and Nottingham (all 69 per cent).
The number of coronavirus tests increased by more than 85 per cent, as children across the country returned to school on March 8 and began regular rapid testing
Overall, 81 per cent of contacts were reached by call handlers and told to self-isolate, with Thurrock in Essex seeing the most contacts successfully reach with 90 per cent