Coronavirus update from Chesterfield Royal Hospital as Boris Johnson to reveal ‘living with Covid’ plan

Shortly before 2pm on Monday, there were 29 patients with the virus at the Royal. Two weeks ago, that number was 35.

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At 4.30pm on Monday, Mr Johnson is expected to tell the House of Commons that all remaining Covid legal restrictions in England – including the requirement to isolate – will be axed.

He is then due to give a press conference to the nation at 7pm.

Ahead of his important announcements, Mr Johnson said his plan would bring society ‘towards a return to normality’ – nearly two years since the pandemic was officially declared.

Number 10 said the Covid vaccination programme had put England in a ‘strong position to consider lifting the remaining legal restrictions’.

However, some experts have urged caution and Labour queried plans to reduce testing.

Latest Government statistics show 360 people in Chesterfield had a confirmed positive test result for coronavirus between February 14 and February 20 – a decrease of 24.7 per cent compared to the previous seven days.

In North East Derbyshire, 416 people had a confirmed positive test result from February 14 to February 20 – a week-on-week fall of 16 per cent.

In Bolsover, 270 people had a confirmed positive test result between February 14 and February 20 – down 34 per cent compared to the last seven days.

Just over 91 per cent of people in the UK aged 12 and over have now had a first dose of a Covid vaccine, 85 per cent a second jab, and 66 per cent a booster or a third dose, according to official data.

The Government has announced it will offer a low-dose Covid vaccine to children aged between five and 11 in England during April.

On Monday, the UK’s vaccines advisory body announced that an additional booster dose should be offered to all adults over-75 and the most vulnerable over-12s this spring.

Nationally, 74 deaths with Covid were reported on Sunday – up from 52 the previous Sunday.

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