UK 'past peak' but Covid infections still 'high'
The UK is "at night peak" of the existing wave of the pandemic but infection rates are still high, England's chief medical officer says.
Prof Chris Whitty said the amount of cases, hospitalizations and deaths were in a "downward slope" but that didn't mean there wouldn't normally be another peak.
Boris Johnson praised the "colossal" work to vaccinate 10 million people, including 90% of those aged over 75.
But the NHS was still under "huge pressure", the prime minister said.
Speaking for a Downing Road briefing, Prof Whitty stated while the number of folks in medical center with Covid-19 had decreased "quite noticeably", it had been still above that of the primary peak in April 2020.
"So this continues to be a very significant problem, but it is one that is heading the proper way," he said.
Prof Whitty said infection rates were "decreasing but they are still incredibly high".
If the amount was to increase again "from the very high amounts we are right now the NHS are certain to get back to trouble extraordinarily fast", he added.
His comments were echoed by the prime minister, who warned the amount of infections was still "forbiddingly high" and that it had been too early to relax current constraints.
On Wednesday the UK recorded an additional 1,322 deaths reported within 28 times of a positive check for coronavirus, bringing the total number of people who've died by this measure to 109,335, while a further 19,202 new conditions were recorded.
Mr Johnson told the briefing: "Though today there are a few signs of trust - the amounts of Covid patients in hospital are starting to fall for the 1st time since the starting point of the new wave - the amount of infection is still alarmingly high."
There are also about 32,000 Covid patients in hospital, he added.
The prime minister said he hoped schools in England can start reopening from 8 March, as evidence showed the coronavirus vaccines reduced "death and serious disease" from the key strains of the condition.
But he insisted the government would not be opening schools any sort of earlier than this time, despite Initially Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying that institutions in Scotland would get started a phased reopening from 22 February.
Elsewhere, the Welsh federal government is due to make a decision by the finish of the week on whether to reopen its schools after the February half-term.
Prof Whitty said universities in England have been managing to "contain the line" and stay open up before new, more transmissible variant of the virus hit.
He said it was up to ministers to decide the beginning dates for schools but that he was confident the chance to children to getting Covid-19 was "incredibly low".
Meanwhile, he warned that predictions that every adult could offered a first dose of a vaccine by simply May another by August were "in the optimistic end" because of supply constraints.
Mr Johnson said in the news headlines conference the government will be keeping its "cautious" approach.
He said ministers would outline a good "path map" out of lockdown on 22 February and that the country will be in "an extremely different circumstance" to last summer, when disease amounts have been reduced but there is no vaccine.
Vaccines are being directed at the most vulnerable primary. A set of nine high-priority teams which covers about 32 million people - including 90-99% of these most vulnerable to dying - has been followed, with an try to vaccinate the primary four by 15 February.
