England Covid Infection Rate Falls For Fourth Week Amid Lockdown

(Bloomberg) -- The number of people in England infected with Covid-19 fell for a fourth consecutive week, adding to signs the nation’s third lockdown is gradually bringing the virus under control.

One in 80 people would have tested positive for the disease in the week to Feb. 6, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. That’s down from one in 65 the previous week.

The figures suggest the restrictions imposed to control the virus are having an tangible impact on the spread of the disease. With the U.K.’s vaccination program also rolling out at pace, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under pressure from members of his own Conservative Party to start lifting curbs as soon as possible to help the U.K. rebound from its worst downturn for 300 years. He is scheduled to set out a road map for easing restrictions later this month.

Total infections in England in the period were estimated to be under 700,000, down from more than a million as recently as the week ending Jan. 23. In London, which was hit particularly badly during the winter wave of the disease, the rate was one in 60, down from as high as 1 in 30 around the turn of the year.

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