Coronavirus cases in the UK are now at significantly lower levels than they were at the start of the third lockdown, with 8,523 Covid cases reported on Friday. In the last seven days, 67,816 Covid cases have been reported in total, a drop of 16.8 percent from the previous week. But coronavirus data in some regions continues to concern medical experts, with a handful of places showing numbers are slightly on the rise.
Where is reporting the highest Covid cases?
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said at a Downing Street press conference on Friday that “this is not a battle that we have won yet”.
Professor Van-Tam showed a number of maps that indicate a rise in coronavirus cases in some parts of the country.
He said the slides showed there “were quite a few areas of the UK that are burning quite hot”, including in the Midlands and spreading up to the west coast of England.
Professor Van-Tam said: “Although it is generally good news, I’m afraid it is better news in some places than it is in others and this is not a battle that we have won yet.
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“In some parts of the UK, case rates are changing, albeit slowly, in the wrong direction.
“This is not a good sign and reinforces the fact that I’m afraid this battle at the moment is not won.”
The latest Public Health England COVID-19 Infection Survey was published on February 26.
The report showed the North West had the highest percentage of people testing positive during the week ending February 19, 2021.
The report also indicated the percentage of people testing positive decreased in all regions during the same period, except for Yorkshire and the Humber where the trend is “uncertain”.
Could cases continue to rise?
Covid vaccine rollout has been largely regarded as a success, with more than 19 million adults already vaccinated in the UK.
However, there are concerns that Covid cases could spike as lockdown measures start to ease over the coming months.
Under the Government’s roadmap for easing lockdown, schools are planned to reopen from March 8.
When asked whether cases are likely to rise after schools reopen fully, Professor Sir Mark Walport, former chief scientific advisor to the Government, said: “There’s likely to be a small impact because we’ve seen it every time, actually.
“It’s clear that children can transmit and we know that cases among young people go up during term time and tend to go down during holidays.”
All people, including those who are already vaccinated against COVID-19, are urged to stick to the restrictions to get Covid cases down.
