British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that coronavirus infections remain "alarmingly high" and the NHS is still under "huge pressure", despite promising vaccination data.
He praised the "colossal" effort of health workers who have helped vaccinate more than 10 million people against Covid-19 in the UK.
But he said: "Though today there are some signs of hope - the numbers of Covid patients in hospital are beginning to fall for the first time since the onset of this new wave - the level of infection is still alarmingly high. "The wards of our NHS are under huge pressure with more than 32,000 Covid patients still in hospital." Addressing a Downing Street press conference his evening, Mr Johnson said vaccines appear to reduce death