England seeing just 757 new Covid cases a day, study says

29 April 2021, 13:52 | Updated: 29 April 2021, 17:06

The number of new Covid cases has fallen to the lowest level since September in England, according to new Test and Trace figures.

That is despite outdoor hospitality and non-essential retail having been open since April 12, and indicates the UK has moved from a pandemic to an endemic Covid situation.

Statistics for the week to April 21 show 16,776 people tested positive in that period, down 9% from the week prior.

Is it the lowest total since September 2 last year.

Meanwhile, data from the large-scale ZOE app, which tracks Covid infections, indicates just 1,046 symptomatic cases are occurring daily throughout the UK, and just 757 of those are in England.

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The head of the study said new cases are so low that experts will have to adapt to track it more effectively, having spent months dealing with larger rates.

The app's co-founder and Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London, Tim Spector, said: "It's a great position to be in.

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"Consistent low levels signal that we're moving from a COVID pandemic to COVID becoming endemic in the UK, where we expect to see low levels in the population with the occasional outbreak.

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"It's very reassuring that low rates continue despite reopening gyms and outdoor areas in pubs and restaurants, and bodes well for further relaxation of restrictions in line with the government roadmap out of lockdown."

The ZOE app, which sends data to King's College London for analysis also shows the R number for all areas in Britain is below 1, meaning Covid cases are shrinking, except for two places.

London has an R of 1.3, suggesting rising cases, while Scotland is at 1.

The ZOE app has more than 4 million contributors across the world, which the initiative says is the world's largest ongoing study of Covid-19.