Britain's daily Covid figures fell for the third day in a row today, official data showed in a sign the worst of the Omicron wave may be over in the country.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) figures show there were 146,390 new positive tests over the last 24 hours, down 18.5 per cent on the previous week's figure of 179,637.
It marked the biggest week-on-week fall since the start of November, well before the supermutant strain sent cases soaring across the country.
But the number of people dying with the virus continued to increase today, with 313 fatalities recorded — up 103 per cent on last week's number.
The surge may be slightly overinflated due to less deaths being recorded on New Year's Day last weekend. Fatalities usually follow trends in case numbers around two weeks later due to the time it takes for the virus to take hold.
Covid hospitalisations in Omicron hotspot London fell 31 per cent to 310 on January 6, the latest date regional data is available for.
Experts hope nationwide numbers will continue to follow London's trajectory of rapidly falling cases and now hospitalisations. A similar trend was seen Omicron ground zero South Africa, which saw a sharp peak in cases before infections quickly dropped off.
Official data show Covid cases in Wales and Scotland are increasing faster than in England despite the nations' harsher restrictions.
Graph shows: Covid infection rates across England's regions up to January 2, Department of Health data shows
