The total number of lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK has now exceeded four million since the outbreak began, according to the government’s dashboard.
However, the spread of the virus has finally slowed enough to bring the R rate of transmission below 1.0 for the first time since July.
Meanwhile, in Wales, first minister Mark Drakeford has said the country could be in a position to ease some Covid-19 restrictions in the hospitality and tourism industries by Easter.
The first minister said reopening remained a “very big if” due to uncertainties surrounding new variants but the number of new infections reported in Wales was on a downward curve.
The UK Office for National Statistics’ weekly survey found that infection levels fell last week in all of the UK nations, compared with the week before.
