Under-fire PM Boris Johnson looks set to ease 'Plan B' rules in a week's time, with experts optimistic that the latest Omicron wave has peaked.
The measures - which include compulsory mask wearing, working from home guidance and vaccine passports - were brought in as Covid again ripped through the UK.
In recent days the number of coronavirus deaths has risen dramatically, but cases have dropped off significantly.
The Prime Minister has previously said the measures will be reviewed by January 26, with many backbenchers vocal in their calls for restrictions to be lifted.
Ministers are said to be optimistic that restrictions can be eased, with cases dropping and hospitalisations seeming to be levelling off.
Here we look at the latest Covid data.
Covid cases
In the past seven days the number of people testing positive for the virus have fallen by more than 40 per cent.
Yesterday the Department of Health announced 84,429 new infections, the sixth day in a row that the figure has been below 100,000.
It remains a massive number, but it represents huge progress on the numbers being recorded over Christmas, with more than 246,000 cases reported on December 29 alone.
In the past seven days 700,366 new infections have been confirmed, a 41.7 per cent drop compared to the previous days.
Dr Susan Hopkins, the UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) chief medical adviser, said London, the South East and East of England were seeing the number of infections flatten.
Deaths
This makes more difficult reading.
With the huge rise in cases as Omicron ripped through the country, it was tragically inevitable that the number of lives lost to Covid would rise.
In the past week 1,845 people have died within 28 days of a positive test, a rise of 515 from the week before.
Thankfully vaccines and effective treatments mean the number is far lower than in previous waves, but recent daily figures are still at their highest since February last year.
A year ago the UK was recording a daily average of nearly 1,300 Covid fatalities per day.
Hospitalisations
There's more encouraging news here.
Although the 15,704 people admitted with Covid-19 in the past week is high, it is showing signs of falling.
Yesterday's data showed a very slight drop in cases, with a two per cent week-on-week fall, and analysts hope that with cases dropping, this will continue in the coming weeks.
On Friday there were 19,345 people in hospital with the virus across the UK.
Just under half of all patients with coronavirus in the care of NHS hospital trusts in England are being treated primarily for something else, new figures show.
Of the 15,026 patients reported as having the virus on January 11, 6,647 (44%) were not being treated principally for Covid-19, according to NHS England.
At the end of last week there were 746 people in ventilation beds - the lowest number since October, before Omicron swept through the population.
This backs up research suggesting that the mutant strain causes less severe illness than Delta, which was the dominant strain in the UK for much of 2021.
What are ministers saying?
At the weekend Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden said signs were "encouraging" ahead of a decision to lift Plan B restrictions.
He told Sky News: "Well, we have seen some very promising data whether that is in relation to infections or hospitalisations and that of course hasn’t happened by accident.
"It has happened because so many people have taken that booster vaccine and thanks to the drive we gave it before Christmas we have now got over 60 per cent of the total population covered with the booster vaccine and actually over 90 per cent of over 50s.
"That gives us pause for hope and optimism that we may be emerging from the worst of omicron.
"So it is good news but it is thanks to all that hard work that has happened."
Asked if Plan B is likely to be lifted he said: "Well, it has always been my hope that we would have the Plan B restrictions for the shortest period possible.
"I am under no doubt the kind of burdens this puts hospitality, wider businesses, schools and so on under and I want us to get rid of those if we possibly can.
"The signs are encouraging but clearly we will wait to see the data ahead of that final decision."
What are experts saying?
This morning Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation's special envoy on Covid-19, said it is "important that there is no premature promising that restrictions will end at a particular time".
He told BBC Breakfast: "The situation with Covid is one where we can see how the threat will become contained and we can see the journey ahead, but it's just that getting there is going to be tough, and that's where we have to be, all of us, really, really open with each other.
"Restrictions are making a difference because they reduce the number of contacts people have, and restrictions therefore are helpful and it's important that there is no premature promising that restrictions will end at a particular time or we'll be able to get back to normal at a particular time.
"I want to be hopeful but I want to do my best to be as clear with what I'm really seeing, which is where I need to continue to be cautious and I will be."
Asked about the prospect of the Government lifting Plan B restrictions in England, he added: "I'm a public health person ... I would not be making promises some time in the future because, once you make a promise, it's super hard then to change what you're going to do - you feel you're kind of doing a U-turn.
"This virus is constantly evolving and it's super hard to predict where it will be - we can say where we hope we're going to go, we can say where we'd like to go, we can say what we think we need to do to get there - but making promises that we'll do something on a particular date, I think, is unwise."
