(Danny Lawson/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Covid-19 infections have fallen for the first time in England in six weeks but Wales remains at a record high, the latest figures show.
England had around 3.8 million people likely to have had coronavirus last week, or around one in 14, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is a drop from the 4.1 million recorded the previous week, or one in 13.
The fall suggests the recent surge in the virus, driven by the Omicron BA.2 variant, may have passed its peak.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have also seen levels fall but in Wales infections have risen for the sixth successive week.
In Wales 231,900 people were estimated to have had Covid-19 last week, or one in 13 – up slightly from 230,800, also one in 13.
It is too soon to know if infections are on a clear downwards trend.
There is still variation between different areas of the country.
Infection levels are estimated to have fallen in eastern England, London, the North West, South East and South West, but have continued to increase in the North East, while the trend in all other regions is “uncertain”.
It came as a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Valneva has been given regulatory approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The UK had been due to receive 100 million doses of the French firm’s jab, but the Government cancelled the deal in September due to a “breach of obligations”.
The independent medicines regulator is the first in the world to approve the Valneva product, MHRA said in a statement.
The jab developed by the firm, which has a factory in Livingston near Edinburgh, is the sixth Covid-19 vaccine to be granted an MHRA authorisation.
