UK records lowest daily COVID cases since September and further 52 deaths

Apr 02, 2021

The UK has recorded another 3,402 new coronavirus cases and a further 52 COVID-related deaths in the latest 24-hour period.

The number of people to have died within 28 days of a positive COVID test is up slightly on yesterday’s 51 fatalities.

But the number of COVID-19 infections is down by more than 1,000 from Thursday’s 4,479 and is the lowest daily figure since mid-September.

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Last Friday there were 70 coronavirus-related deaths and 6,187 new cases reported.

A total of 153,823 first vaccine doses were administered in the latest 24-hour period, and 435,177 second jabs.

This brings the UK’s total number of first jabs handed out to 31,301,267.

On Friday, government scientists estimated England’s R number to be as high as 1 and warned that case numbers may have stopped shrinking despite lockdown measures and the vaccine rollout.

The government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) gave an estimate of between 0.8 and 1, with a growth rate of between -4% and 0%.

This means that case numbers could have stopped falling completely or be decreasing by a maximum of 4% a day.

Scientists did not give a UK-wide R number for the first time since the start of the pandemic, as they claimed that “given the increasingly localised approach to managing the epidemic” it may be “less meaningful”.

The number of vaccines administered also varies from region to region, which has an impact on infection rates.

Lockdown restrictions are being eased differently throughout the four nations.

People were allowed to meet in groups of six or two households in private gardens in England and Wales as of Monday, with Northern Ireland only allowing six people to meet from Thursday.

Scotland’s “stay at home” order lifted on Friday, allowing residents to travel anywhere in their local authority area, with non-essential shops due to open on Monday.

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