UK daily Covid cases DROP by 11.5 per cent from last Sunday's with 20,572 compared to 23,254 - as deaths ALSO fall by six to 156 in latest evidence against new lockdown
The UK has today confirmed a further 20,572 positive Covid tests, a drop of 11.5 per cent on last Sunday's total.
Today's cases - which are 2,682 fewer than the 23,254 reported this time last week - comes on the first weekend of the country's controversial second lockdown.
A further 156 people have died after testing positive for the virus, official figures released today have revealed, bringing the UK's total death toll during the pandemic to 49,044.
Today's all-settings death toll marks a drop of 3.7 per cent on the 162 deaths reported this time last week.
It is also fewer than half the 413 deaths reported yesterday - but figures on Sunday can be lower than usual due to a delay in processing over the weekend.
The positive drop in case numbers adds fuel to criticism against Boris Johnson's trigger-happy lockdown put in place this week.
In other coronavirus news:
The UK has today confirmed a further 20,572 positive Covid tests, a drop of 11.5 per cent on last Sunday's total
A further 156 people have died after testing positive for the virus, official figures released today have revealed, bringing the UK's total death toll during the pandemic to 49,044
The Prime Minister pushed ahead with nation-wide restrictions amid concerns rapid spread of the virus in September and October is leading to surging hospital admissions across the North of England and sparking fears the NHS could be overwhelmed again.
But the move has proven controversial as streams of data from various sources - some official and some not - seem to show that the local lockdown policy was working.
Of today's figures, England recorded 122 deaths, while Scotland announced three.
In Wales, 19 new deaths were reported, along with 744 new cases, as it prepares to leave its 'firebreak' lockdown tomorrow.
Seven deaths were recorded in Northern Ireland and an additional 420 cases.
Boris Johnson is facing a growing Tory revolt over the Government's national coronavirus lockdown, as Britain announced 151 new Covid deaths in hospitals, a rise of just 14 compared to last week
Thousands of Anti-mask attend protest in Manchester during lockdown. The first weekend of the controversial new lockdown ended today
Arrests made at Anti-mask attend protest in Manchester during lockdown today. Similar protests have broken out across the UK since the lockdown was announced
Today's positive drop in case numbers adds fuel to criticism against Boris Johnson's trigger-happy lockdown put in place this week
Police officers clash with anti-lockdown protesters in Manchester this afternoon as the first weekend of the new lockdown comes to a close
The Prime Minister pushed ahead with nation-wide restrictions amid concerns rapid spread of the virus in September and October is leading to surging hospital admissions across the North of England
Measures were brought in following grim predictions that deaths could rise to 1,000 a day by December, but weekly figures have seen a rise of just 14 compared to last Sunday
Today's figure come on the fourth day of England's national lockdown, with Tory MPs warning Boris Johnson he will face a 'massive revolt' if he tries to extend it beyond December 2.
Measures were brought in following grim predictions that deaths could rise to 1,000 a day by December, but weekly figures have seen a rise of just 14 compared to last Sunday, when 137 deaths were recorded.
Mr Johnson has insisted it is the 'plan' for the England-wide curbs to come to an end at the start of next month.
But his failure to give a cast iron guarantee has spooked many Conservative MPs who believe the 'public will not accept' an extension of the draconian measures.
It came as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab denied the Government had used the 'scariest' data possible to try to justify the national shutdown.
A slide used at Mr Johnson's lockdown press conference last Saturday suggested there could be up to 4,000 daily deaths by next month without further action but that number and other projections were subsequently revised down.
Mr Raab insisted this morning the Government is trying to be 'as transparent as possible' and that when 'mistakes' are made or facts change then ministers respond accordingly.
Mr Raab also said ministers 'want to get through to December 2' and then 'transition back to a localised approach'.
The Prime Minister's latest lockdown, which came into effect from Thursday, sailed through the House of Commons last week by 516 votes to 38 as some 34 Tories rebelled.
The R rate of the coronavirus dropped in five regions of England this week - except London and the South East, where it did not change - and stayed stable at between 1.1 and 1.3 in England and the UK as a whole. Last week marked a drop from 1.2 to 1.4 the week before
Today marks the first end of the first weekend of England' second national lockdown. As 156 new Covid deaths were announced, families enjoyed the hills of the countryside in the Peak District
Groups of people were seen heading outside for a Sunday stroll on a wet Mam Tor in the Peak District earlier today. England recorded 127 deaths today, on the fourth day of its winter lockdown
Car parks were full of visitors in the Peak District as people headed outside for their daily exercise, after gyms were forced to close across England
Households are not allowed to mix under current lockdown rules, which are expected to last until December 2. Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have reiterated that they do not wish to extend that date
Tory MPs are threatening to revolt should lockdown be extended, but undeterred Brits headed out today, despite the weather
Conservative backbenchers now believe that more than 80 Tories are likely to revolt if Mr Johnson does try to keep the restrictions in place.
The regulations which underpin the new lockdown will expire on December 2 and MPs will be given a vote on what happens next.
There are fears that if infection rates are still high then the PM could be forced into trying to extend the lockdown.
Second lockdown 'causing more harm than good,' say top scientists
Top scientists have suggested the UK's second wave of coronavirus has already peaked.
Professor Tim Spector, who leads the Covid Symptom Study app aiming to track the spread of Covid-19 in the UK, confirmed that there were 'positive signs' the country has 'passed the peak of the second wave'.
The open letter to the Prime Minister was signed by 469 medics and is titled First Do No Harm - the medical principle that a cure must never be worse than the disease itself.
It is signed by immunologist Dr Charlotte R Bell, paediatrician Dr Rosamond Jones, consultant surgeon and Keith Willison, Professor of Chemical Biology at Imperial College.
The letter reads: 'The management of the crisis has become disproportionate and is now causing more harm than good.
'We urge policy-makers to remember that this pandemic, like all pandemics, will eventually pass but the social and psychological damage that it is causing risks becoming permanent.
'After the initial justifiable response to Covid-19, the evidence base now shows a different picture.
'The problem of functional false positive rates has still not been addressed and particularly in the context of low prevalence of disease whereby false positives are likely to exceed true positives substantially and moreover correlate poorly with the person being infectious.
'Alongside this we have the issue that it is normal to see an increase in illness and deaths during the winter months.
'It is notable that UK death rate is currently sitting around average for this time of year. The use of the term 'second wave' is therefore misleading.
'We have the knowledge to enable a policy that protects the elderly and vulnerable without increasing all other health and economic harms and which is not at the expense our whole way of life and particularly that of the nation's children.'
The Government is facing a growing Tory backlash over its handling of the coronavirus response with MPs particularly angry at the data used by Downing Street to justify the shutdown.
One key slide projected daily deaths could hit 1,500 by December but that was subsequently revised down to a peak of 1,000 daily deaths.
Mr Raab was asked this morning by Sophy Ridge on Sky News whether the Government was showing the nation the 'scariest' data possible so that people would accept there is a need for the restrictions.
He replied: 'No, look, we show models which show what could happen if certain scenarios play out.
'We have corrected the slide you referred to and the wealth of scientific information that comes forward, we are trying to be as transparent as possible.'
Mr Raab said that sometimes 'mistakes are made or facts have to be changed, but that is the point of transparency'.
He added: 'I think the case for the measures we have taken is very clear. We want to get through to December 2.
'At that point we will transition back to a localised approach, it has always been our preference, but we need to get the R-rate, the prevalence of the virus, down and use the next few weeks to do that.'
Some senior Tory figures have claimed the Government appears to be using statistics which support its preferred policy rather than the policy being driven by the statistics.
Mr Raab dismissed the suggestion and said: 'The transparency is we are putting a lot of data out there and when there is a mistake with it we change it so we respond to the scrutiny that transparency brings.
'I think that is the right thing. We are trying to be as transparent as possible.'
The Government's failure to unequivocally guarantee that lockdown will end has caused considerable Tory disquiet.
One former Cabinet minister told The Observer there will be a 'massive revolt' if Mr Johnson does try to keep national measures in place.
Sir Graham Brady the chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs echoed a similar sentiment as he said: 'Some of us voted against lockdown but my sense is that far more would make a stand if a third lockdown were to be contemplated.'
He added: 'It is of serious concern that the data produced to justify this lockdown has begun to unravel so quickly.'
Meanwhile, Sir Charles Walker, vice-chair of the 1922 Committee, said people have now 'rationalised Covid and are increasingly accepting of living alongside the virus'.
He said this was illustrated by the fact so many people were 'laying siege' to pubs and restaurants on the night before lockdown started.
He added: 'There will not be a third lockdown beyond 2 December as the public will not accept it and the Government will not have the moral or constitutional authority to impose it.'
Mr Johnson said at a Downing Street press conference on Thursday that the national lockdown is 'time limited'.
But he failed to guarantee the shutdown will end on December 2 as he said: 'The advice I have received suggests that four weeks is enough for these measures to make a real impact.
'So these rules will expire and on December 2 we plan to move back to a tiered approach.'
Elsewhere today British ports began turning away lorry drivers who had travelled through Denmark, after an outbreak of a Covid-19 mutations at mink farms in the country.
Visitors and freight are being turned away from the UK, while returning British citizens are being told to self-isolate with their families.
The Danish Government has ordered a cull of 17 million mink after a warning that a mutation of the virus - which is less sensitive to an attack from Covid-19 antibodies - had jumped from minks to humans and infected 12 people.
Coronavirus has spread from minks to humans in hundreds of cases - but the mutant strain is restricted to just 12 infections. Scientists fear this small number could be the beginning of 'a new pandemic starting again, this time from Denmark'.
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said it could pose a 'risk to the effectiveness' of a much-anticipated future Covid-19 vaccine as the antibodies provided by the jab may not be effective enough.
Despite the overcast skies, Hyde Park was busy with cyclists, dog walkers and groups on Sunday. There are fears that the public 'will not accept,' any extension of lockdown measures
Green Park in central London was bustling earlier on Sunday afternoon, as England endured its first weekend of winter lockdown
Mr Raab told Sky News the decision to impose travel restrictions on the country was a 'precautionary measure'.
Concerns at British ports come as Northern Ireland's policing college was forced to close for a deep clean after four student officers tested positive for Covid-19.
The PSNI College in Belfast, is expected to shut for two days after the first positive case was found on Saturday.
In addition to the four student officers who tested positive, a further 15 have been required to self-isolate.
Head of the college Chief Superintendent Emma Bond said: 'There are robust measures in place at the college to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, however our officers and staff are also members of the community and the reality is that we face the same risks from this pandemic as all other residents of Northern Ireland.
'We expect the college to remain closed for two days while staff work remotely.
'Where training can be delivered remotely we will facilitate this and our student officer team is exploring options for how we can adapt to continue to deliver training to accommodate those who are self isolating.'
Under the new lockdown, bars, restaurants and all non-essential shops must close to aid social distancing.
Joggers took to Green Park while in nearby Whitehall, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prime Mininster Boris Johnson lead wreaths on Remembrance Sunday
Data released by Google shows Londoners remain cautious when England's first lockdown measures were eased over the summer
Households are not permitted to mix indoors - except if they form a support bubble or under a handful of other exemptions - and can only meet outside with one other person.
As a result, Britons have been flocking to beauty spots from the Peak District to Hyde Park on a wet and windy fourth day of lockdown - but central London remains deserted.
Britons paid their respect to the country's war dead at memorials up and down the country today despite the Government urging councils to 'discourage' the public from events during the nation's second lockdown.
Groups across the UK held their own memorials alongside the scaled-down annual National Service of Remembrance in London, during which Prince Charles, Prince William and Prime Minister Boris Johnson laid wreaths in solemn remembrance.