UK's Covid alert is downgraded to level two as hospital pressure and infections decline

The UK’s Covid alert level has been downgraded as the latest wave continues to fizzle out.

The country’s four chief physicians have jointly recommended moving the Covid alert level from level three to level two.

A level two alert means that “Covid is in general circulation but direct pressure and healthcare transmission are decreasing or stable”.

The last time the alert level was at the highest level of four was in December, when the original Omicron variant swept the country.

It was also four o’clock the previous winter, before vaccinations, when the alpha strain drove hospital rates to record highs.

The downgraded warning comes after weeks of falling infections and hospitalizations across the UK.

Cases spiked from June when the highly infectious BA.5 subvariant took off, sparking fears of a deadly resurgence of the virus.

But the substrain proved to be just as mild as its parent variant, Omicron, and any increase in hospitalization rates was short-lived.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show around 1.2 million people in England suffered from Covid on any day of the week to August 16 – a 15 per cent drop in one week.

This means around one in 45 people were infected during the week – the lowest level since June 11, when 1.1 million were infected (one in 50).

Infections also fell in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, marking the fifth consecutive week that cases had fallen in all four home countries.

Hospital admissions due to Covid have also been in free fall since mid-July. In England it’s around 680 a day today, down from 1,900 a month and a half ago.

The analysis suggests that only a fraction of these people had the disease primarily, with most being admitted for a variety of reasons and testing positive by chance.

It comes as the UK’s Covid Inquiry opened its probe into decisions made by Boris Johnson’s government during the pandemic.

A special focus will initially be placed on the beginning of 2020, until the first lockdown was imposed at the end of March.

The inquiry will then look at decisions made throughout 2020 through February 2022.

It will also examine the actions of lower governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The inquiry has set a date for a preliminary hearing for this fall and has committed to hearing evidence from witnesses next summer.

Inquiry Chair Baroness Hallett said: “My team and I will establish what was understood about Covid-19 at the time, what information was available in each of the four British nations and how and why key decisions were made, particularly at the start of the pandemic.

“I will be gathering evidence next year to have a full picture of the challenges the government is facing and how it has chosen to address them.”

The formal process of allowing interested parties to become key participants in module two of the inquiry – the part covering government decision-making – has begun and will conclude on September 23.

Key stakeholders—individuals, organizations, or institutions with a particular interest in the work of the investigation—can access evidence relevant to the investigation, make opening and closing statements at hearings, and suggest questions to the investigator.

The second module process will consider decisions by the Prime Minister and Cabinet – on the recommendation of the Civil Service, senior political, scientific and medical advisers – and relevant Cabinet sub-committees.

Lady Hallett said: “The Inquiry has started the second module Inquiries, which examine the core political and administrative decisions of the Westminster Government.

“The related Modules 2A, 2B and 2C will allow me to examine decisions made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”