{"id":113585,"date":"2021-02-19T16:43:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T16:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=113585"},"modified":"2021-02-19T16:43:54","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T16:43:54","slug":"uk-covid-deaths-fall-30-in-a-week-as-533-fatalities-and-12027-cases-recorded-as-covid-r-rate-plummets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/uk-covid-deaths-fall-30-in-a-week-as-533-fatalities-and-12027-cases-recorded-as-covid-r-rate-plummets\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Covid deaths fall 30% in a week as 533 fatalities and 12,027 cases recorded as Covid R rate plummets"},"content":{"rendered":"
UK Covid deaths today rose by 533 – which a 30 per cent drop on the figure recorded this time last week. <\/p>\n
Another 12,027 infections were recorded in the last 24 hours, meaning 4,095,269 people have now tested positive for\u00a0the bug\u00a0in Britain since the start of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
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Despite the number of cases and deaths declining, the number of people who have sadly lost their lives to the virus in Britain now totals 119,920.<\/p>\n
Today's figures come as Brits edge closer to finding out how and when the third lockdown will be lifted.<\/p>\n
Boris Johnson is preparing to sift through a dossier of data to help him decide the speed of his "Roadmap to Recovery" blueprint.<\/p>\n
The PM will use the numbers to shape\u00a0his official plan to ease lockdown, to be published on Monday.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, 12,057 infections were recorded in the UK, and deaths rose by 454. <\/p>\n
And last Friday, there were 15,114 cases of coronavirus reported, as well as 758 more deaths.<\/p>\n
It comes as…<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, a 13-year-old with no underlying health conditions died after tragically contracting the virus.<\/p>\n NHS England said that a further 315 people who tested positive for Covid have died in hospital in England today, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 80,739.<\/p>\n Patients were aged between 13 and 103. All except 26, aged between 13 and 96, had known underlying health conditions.<\/p>\n Meanwhile in Wales, cases of Covid are at the lowest level since the end of September, First Minister Mark Drakeford said.<\/p>\n There have been a further 533 infections in Wales, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 200,989.<\/p>\n Public Health Wales reported another 16 deaths, taking the total in the country since the start of the pandemic to 5,205.<\/p>\n Mark Drakeford also warned today that a third wave of coronavirus WILL hit and it's a "matter of when, not if."<\/p>\n The Welsh First Minister refused to rule out the need for a fourth lockdown, because he believes the deadly bug may create even more "unpleasant surprises" for Brits this year.<\/p>\n And according to the latest Government figures, the coronavirus reproduction number, or R value, across the UK is between 0.6 and 0.9.<\/p>\n Last week, it was between 0.7 and 0.9.<\/p>\n When the R rate is above 1, an outbreak can grow exponentially, but when it is below 1, it means the epidemic is shrinking.<\/p>\n An R number between 0.6 and 0.9 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between six and nine other people.<\/p>\n It's the lowest R range seen since the Government first started publishing the figures in May 2020.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the\u00a0Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey found 481,300 people in England are currently infected, the equivalent of one in 115 or less than one per cent of the population.<\/p>\n It's a 30 per cent decrease from the estimate the week prior, of 695,400 – or one in 80.<\/p>\n And it is the lowest figure since November 29 to December 5, when the estimate also stood at one in 115 people.<\/p>\n\n
SLOWING THE SPREAD<\/h2>\n