Covid deaths plunge by a third as 345 new fatalities are recorded

here were 345 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday as new cases continued to fall.

Over the past week there have been 2,496 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test giving a UK total of 122,415.

Deaths have plummeted 31.3 per cent compared to the previous week in a sign that the vaccine rollout and lockdown measures are working.

Government figures also show that 8,523 people had a confirmed positive test on Friday.

It suggests that the country’s Covid-19 outbreak is still shrinking, but at a slower speed than before following a month of weekly decline. 

People aged 40-49 are next in line for a Covid-19 vaccine after Government advisers concluded that vaccinating on the basis of age remained the quickest way to cut deaths.

The number of people who have had a least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine is 19,177,555.

The figures came as the Queen spoke publicly for the first time about getting her Covid-19 jab, saying, “It didn’t hurt at all.”

The 94-year-old monarch told health leaders that she had felt “protected” since getting her first dose in January, and described speed of the national rollout as “remarkable”. 

Addressing vaccine hesitancy, she added: “It is obviously difficult for people if they’ve never had a vaccine…but they ought to think about other people rather than themselves.”

He said: “I think you are going to find that venues where large numbers of people are going to congregate close to each other, people will want to have some rules around it and I think other people will feel more comfortable if they know there has been at least some requirement, even if it isn’t someone’s been vaccinated, that they have at least been tested before they go.

“Otherwise I think it is hard to see how people have the confidence to go back to life as normal.

“Life as normal is not just about government saying, ‘We allow you to do this’. It is also about people feeling safe to do it – that’s the balance.”