Express & Star comment: Infection rates are pleasing

For three consecutive weeks some areas have seen case numbers drop by up to a quarter, marking a quite staggering overall fall during the latest lockdown.

This is particularly satisfying when you consider that parts of the Midlands have been some of the hardest hit areas in the country throughout the crisis.

At the same time, hospital admissions have reduced to the point where health chiefs are now mapping out plans to restore other services that were sidelined due to the pandemic.

Bed space has freed up to the point where staff who were redeployed onto Covid wards will soon be able to return to their day jobs.

And the region's Nightingale hospital will close next month having never been brought into use – to the great relief of those who feared our hospitals were going to be overrun.

Crucially, death rates have also fallen sharply across the Midlands.

It is an inescapable fact that in our battle against coronavirus, we have now reached a tipping point.

The resounding success of the vaccine roll out means that the vast majority of the country's most vulnerable people have been protected against infection.

The latest lockdown has played its part in reducing infection rates, thanks to most people sticking to the rules for the benefit of the wider population.

We're not there yet, by any stretch of the imagination, and it is worth noting that there were still more than 2,000 new cases recorded across the region in the past week.

But there is reason for optimism as we move towards the next stage of the lockdown being eased.

We must hope that the lessons from last year have been fully taken on board and that this lockdown is the last one.

The Government is right to take a cautious approach, and Ministers have made it crystal clear that any drastic rise in cases will see tighter measures reintroduced.

They are fully aware that rising case numbers result in a higher death rate, although the fact that so many people have now received the jab is a mitigating factor.

There is every chance that the reopening of schools to most pupils could see infection rates start to rise again.

However, with testing regimes in place for pupils and staff, it is hoped that the impact of any new cases will be minimal.

Undoubtedly, people are tired of hearing that we still have a long way to go until the virus is behind us.

Indeed, the phrase, "we're not out of the woods yet" has become something of a mantra for Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

But let's compare the current situation we find ourselves in to last summer, when Covid cases and hospital admissions were also falling rapidly.

At that time, several months before the roll out of the vaccine, there were people who thought we had broken the back of the virus and that the country was ready to return to normal.

Nothing could have been further from the truth, and the second wave we had been warned about right from the start of the pandemic wreaked havoc.

We must learn from past mistakes and tread carefully over the coming weeks and months.