Covid-19 update: most of the UK is almost corona free

Britain is now doing more Covid-19 testing than anywhere else in Europe, offering a detailed regional picture that shows how rapidly the virus has receded in most of the country. The latest figures were released earlier this afternoon, for 29 June to 5 July, using the German definition: how many weekly positive infections per 100,000 people? The German danger zone is 50. Of 150 upper-tier local authorities in England, only one is over that limit: locked-down Leicester. And even now it’s unclear if this is due to more testing or more virus. Some 73 per cent of local authorities now have a score of 5 weekly infections or less per 100,000 people. It is hard to argue that, in these areas, there is a significant risk in allowing theatres to reopen, children to attend school or church congregations to sing. And what about the cities? Forget about the ratios: let’s look at the actual number of positive tests.