UK's vaccine programme received a shot in the arm as England reported zero deaths due to Covid-19, according to its latest daily update.
Since the pandemic broke out in March last year, Sunday (9) was the first day that had no deaths from Covid-19. More than 112,000 people have died since then, starting with the first wave and then followed by the highly infectious UK strain of the virus.
Now, the government's aggressive vaccination drive has allowed to ease lockdown measures and helping the economy to reopen. With further easing of restrictions next week, people will be allowed to meet indoors at pubs, restaurants and cinemas.
England and other nations part of the United Kingdom, calculate Covid-19 fatalities by counting the number of people who died within 28 days after their first test returned positive. Scotland and Northern Ireland also reported no deaths on Sunday (9), while four people died in Wales.
UK has the fifth-highest death toll in the world.
However, there are now concerns over the Indian Covid variant, which reports suggest is becoming more prominent in Britain and spreads faster than the Kent mutation.
According to experts, in the two weeks to May 1, the number of Indian variant cases have gone up from one per cent to 11 per cent, with other variants being less than one per cent.
Zia Yusuf
Sunak with Boris Johnson
Sunak with Suella Braverman