UK's daily Covid cases are down AGAIN in 2% week-on-week drop to 33,869

Covid cases in the UK have fallen for the sixth day in a row, while hospitalisations and deaths are also down, official figures revealed today.

Department of Health bosses posted another 33,869 positive test results, a week-on-week drop of 1.9 per cent.

It comes amid fears a fourth wave will hit the UK in the coming months. 'Professor Lockdown' Neil Ferguson today warning the UK does not have much 'headroom' if cases, hospitalisations and deaths tick upwards.

But all measures fell today. Some 642 Covid patients were admitted to hospital on Friday, the latest most recent day figures are available for, down 9.1 per cent on the previous week.

And 166 fatalities were recorded among people who tested positive in the previous four weeks, one fewer than last Tuesday.

Both measures lag behind case numbers by a few weeks, due to the time it takes for someone to become seriously unwell after catching the virus.

Professor Ferguson said England may have to resort to its winter Covid 'Plan B' if daily hospital admissions for coronavirus breach 1,200. 

Under the 'Plan B', the Government would bring back face masks, social distancing and working from home guidance, and introduce vaccine passports if the NHS comes under unsustainable pressure. 

This threshold would be met if England reached more than 1,200 Covid hospitalisations a day – around double the level recorded today and about a third of the number seen at the peak of the second wave in January, Professor Ferguson said.

Speaking to a cross-party committee of MPs today, he said that the country was currently recording around 600 Covid admissions per day.

He added: 'If that figure were to double, we'd need to think about moving to "Plan B".' The epidemiologist, based at Imperial College London, called for 'more intense' curbs if there is a sharp rise in admissions. 

To get ahead of a winter wave, he said second doses for 16 and 17-year-olds could be brought forward and advised we are 'more aggressive' in administering boosters.

Official figures today revealed a further 37,671 first doses and 29,337 second doses have been dished out across the UK's four nations. 

But ministers are yet to reveal how many jabs have been dished out to 12 to 15-year-olds and as part of the booster campaign, both of which began last month. 

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister today voiced growing confidence Covid will not spark further lockdowns, claiming that the country was on track to stick to 'Plan A'. In a round of interviews at Tory conference in Manchester, Boris Johnson said: 'The data that I see at the moment is very clear that we are right to stick to Plan A, which is what we are on.'

Experts giving evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus alongside Professor Ferguson warned that the UK was recording much higher case numbers —  34,000 on average each day — compared to its EU neighbours.

They also noted the UK has about 66 per cent of the population fully vaccinated compared to the likes of Portugal and Spain where up to eight in 10 are jabbed. This is mostly down to Britain having delayed rolling out jabs for healthy teenagers because of fears of side effects.

Professor Ferguson warned that high case rates, relatively low immunity and fewer hospital beds gave the UK less 'headroom' than its neighbours heading into the winter.