Dr Raghib Ali, a consultant in acute medicine at Oxford University Hospitals, said that hospital and admission data was better than expected, and that the drops were unlikely to be just a Christmas effect, as no dip was seen last year.

“I think we should be cautiously optimistic and wait for the coming days’ data before bringing in new restrictions,” he told The Telegraph.

“Staff absence is a major issue, but a decreased isolation period should help. I think we can wait to see the trend in the coming days.”

The number of people needing mechanical ventilation is also holding steady in England with 758 patients on ventilators in ICU, nine fewer than a week ago.

The situation in London is more concerning, with the number of patients needing ventilation rising slightly in a week from 210 to 224.

However, figures show there are still fewer patients in hospital than at this time last year – 2,425, compared to 4,276 – and the number  of people in hospital primarily for Covid has also fallen from 85 per cent in November to 75 per cent.

It means one quarter of Covid patients were admitted for another reason, but tested positive on arrival or later in their treatment.

Case numbers in England are currently around 100,000 a day compared to around 31,000 this time last year. But the soaring cases have, so far, not translated into more hospitalizations.