Covid cases fall with 1.9 million infected in first signs of winter wave waning

Covid cases fell sharply in the second half of December despite increased socialising over Christmas, new figures show.

After doubling in the first half of last month, the number of infections in England and Scotland fell by 25 per cent in the two weeks until 3 January, according to the latest winter infection survey by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

This estimated the prevalence of the virus to be 3.1 per cent last Wednesday – representing 1 in 32 people – down from 4.3 per cent in mid-December, when it was 1 in 24 people “showing early signs of decreasing”.

However, a spokesperson for the UKHSA cautioned that Covid cases wouldn’t necessarily continue to drop in the coming weeks.

“We note that prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection does not always follow simple epidemic growth, peak, and decline pattern. The recent early sign of decrease observed in these data does not immediately suggest that prevalence will continue to drop to low levels,” the spokesperson said.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.