CCP Virus Infections Continue to Drop Across UK

A commuter wears a facemask as he sits in a bus shelter with NHS signage promoting "Stay Home, Save Lives" in Chinatown, central London, on Jan. 8, 2021. Tolga Akmen /AFP via Getty Images

CCP virus infection rates have continued to decrease across the UK, the latest figures from Britain’s official statistics agency show.

The number of people who tested positive for the virus in the community dropped during the seven days up to Feb. 12, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released on Friday.

In England, around 1 in 115 people tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus during the latest reporting period, compared to 1 in 80 in the last ONS report issued a week before.

In Wales, around 1 in 125 people tested positive, while the figure was 1 in 85 a week before.

In Northern Ireland, about 1 in 105 people tested positive, down from 1 in 75 people previously.

In Scotland, around 1 in 180 people were infected, compared to 1 in 150 people a week before.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the latest ONS data was “encouraging.”

“The plan is working. Infection rates are falling. But we aren’t there yet,” he wrote on Twitter. “As we roll out the vaccine, we must continue to suppress this virus.”

Imperial College London’s latest REACT-1 study report, published on Thursday, found that infections fell by more than two-thirds from the last report in January.

The most marked drop was witnessed in London, where positive tests fell from 2.83 percent to 0.54 percent from last month.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is due to reveal his plan for exiting lockdown on Feb. 22, has come under pressure from lawmakers and businesses to set clear dates for the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions following the biggest vaccine rollout in British history.

More than 16.4 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, official figures show.

The COVID Recovery Group (CRG), a group of Tory MPs who are sceptical about lockdown measures, said that they welcomed “the tremendous pace of the vaccination rollout” and that the restrictions will no longer be justified once the high-risk groups have been protected by vaccines.

In a letter to the prime minister on Feb. 13, they demanded that schools must be reopened to all pupils on March 8 and all COVID-19 restrictions must be lifted by the end of April.

But Johnson has refused to set firm dates for easing COVID-19 lockdown measures, arguing instead that a “cautious but irreversible” plan would be preferable.