England records another 185 Covid hospital deaths in preliminary figures 

A further 185 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, the NHS said today.

A total of 84,276 people have now died in hospitals in England since the start of the pandemic, preliminary data shows.  

The figures, released ahead of the official statistics this afternoon, show those who died were between 42 and 96, and all but six had known underlying health conditions. 

It comes as Britain’s Covid infection figures yesterday dropped by 30 per cent week-on-week to 5,947 in the latest sign the UK is finally bringing the virus under control. 

The figures, shared by Public Health England, are also down from Thursday, when 6,543 Covid cases were recorded. There have been more than 4million cases since recorded in the UK since the pandemic began. 

Meanwhile, Department of Health officials yesterday revealed there had been 236 more Covid fatalities – down by a third week-on-week, with the Health Secretary boasting the decline was becoming ‘faster and faster’. 

Bolstering hopes that the darkest days of the pandemic are over, Mr Hancock claimed the figures offered proof that the once ‘unbreakable’ link between cases inevitably turning into deaths was ‘now breaking’.

He told a Downing Street press conference on Friday: ‘The vaccine is protecting the NHS, saving lives right across the country. The country’s plan is working.’ 

Two-fifths of adults have now been jabbed and 1million have had both doses.

His comments came after an array of official data revealed Covid cases are falling rapidly, fuelling calls for No10 to relax lockdown measures sooner. 

Under current plans heavily criticised by anti-lockdown Tory MPs, England will still have some lockdown restrictions in place until at least June 21.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed England’s outbreak shrank by a third in the week to February 26, with 248,000 people infected – the equivalent of one in every 220 people.

And a symptom-tracking study revealed the number of people getting infected each day has started to drop again after levelling off in February. 

Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist behind the research, revealed he hoped lockdown could be eased ‘earlier’.

Even Number 10’s normally-cautious advisers are optimistic about Britain’s prospects, with SAGE member Professor Andrew Hayward admitting today that he believed the country had already ‘been through the worst’ of the pandemic.

However, the Government’s advisory panel yesterday claimed the R rate has crept up for the first time since January. 

Modellers predicted the rate was between 0.7 and 0.9 but remained below one, meaning the outbreak is still shrinking. Last week it was estimated to be as low as 0.6.

But one SAGE epidemiologist insisted the era of caring about the R rate was ‘coming to an end’ because the figure is no longer at the heart of No10’s Covid strategy. 

Professor John Edmunds, from the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said a rise in cases ‘may be tolerated as long as it doesn’t put undue pressure on hospital services’.

Almost 21.4million vulnerable Britons have already been vaccinated, with the mammoth NHS operation continuing to run smoothly. 

Any hiccups in the inoculation drive – which will save countless lives – could threaten lockdown-easing plans.  

SAGE experts predicted the R rate remained below one in every region of England except Yorkshire and the Humber where it was predicted to be between 0.7 and 1, suggesting cases may no longer be falling there. 

Other studies have also indicated the Covid outbreak may no longer be shrinking in the region. But Department of Health data still shows infections are dropping there week-on-week. 

The R rate was lowest in London, the East of England, the South East and the South West (0.6 to 0.8). In the North West and the Midlands it was between 0.7 and 0.9, they added.  

Professor Spector said: ‘After reporting a flattening last week, possibly related to the cold snap, and with worries of new variants, we are pleased to see numbers falling again. 

‘It’s even more encouraging when we look at the bigger picture. Cases in hospital and deaths continue to fall, and vaccinations rise, putting us in a good position. 

‘However, we still need to keep numbers low and avoid further waves of infections.

‘Our app shows people are still getting infected within two weeks after vaccination when they have zero protection. 

‘With schools opening, we still need to be sensible to keep the good news flowing as we slowly return to normal life and hopefully ease lockdown earlier.’