Forex Trading For Beginners 2021: Covid-19: Lockdown 'a success' but UK 'not out of the woods'

The current lockdown has been a success but the UK is "not out of the woods" yet, the head of the Office for National Statistics has warned.

National statistician Prof Sir Ian Diamond said there had been "very strong reductions" in case numbers.

But in the north-east and east of England the decline has "flattened off, potentially", he told the BBC.

Other areas, like the South West and South East, have continued to see cases decline, Prof Diamond said.

The Office for National Statistics conducts a survey of thousands of households to gauge the spread of coronavirus.

There has been a decline in the number of cases in the UK, with the most recent government figures, reported on Friday, showing a further 5,947 new cases.

This has coincided with the success of the UK's vaccination programme, which has seen two-fifths of adults receive a first dose so far.

Lockdowns have been in place across the UK since early January. On Monday, restrictions in England will begin to be eased as many pupils return to school.

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Prof Diamond said: "I think this lockdown has been a success but at the same time, while we have seen major reductions, we are still relatively high.

"I'm in very much the view that we should do everything we can not to blow it nationally.

"We have done fantastically well in the last couple of months but we are not completely out of the woods yet."

He added that it was "very difficult" to work out the difference between the impact of the lockdown and the vaccination scheme, but it was clear both were working in reducing the number of cases.

'Balancing act'

Meanwhile, an infectious disease expert said the "next few weeks are going to be crucial" for keeping infection rates down.

Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the government's SPI-M modelling advisory panel, told Times Radio the R number, which shows the rate at which coronavirus is spreading, would rise when children go back to their classrooms, but the continuing progress of vaccinations would cause it to reduce.

He said: "We do need to get this balancing act correct and we need to open up at the rate of vaccinations and keep the R number in check, as it were.

"Definitely things are moving in the right direction but the next few weeks are going to be crucial for us to monitor what happens when schools open."