The UK’s four chief medical officers have agreed the Covid-19 alert level should move from five – its highest – down to four as the risk of the NHS being overwhelmed within 21 days “has receded”.

In a joint statement, the four chief medical officers and NHS England’s national medical director Stephen Powis said the numbers of patients in hospital was “consistently declining” but warned “we should be under no illusions” because deaths and infections are still high.

Level five means there is a "material risk of healthcare services being overwhelmed" while level four, the UK's current level, means there is a high or rising level of transmission.

The alert level was raised to level five on January 4, the day Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the third national lockdown for England.

Both levels require social distancing. 

The statement said: “Following advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and in the light of the most recent data, the four UK chief medical officers and NHS England national medical director agree that the UK alert level should move from level five to level four in all four nations.

“The health services across the four nations remain under significant pressure with a high number of patients in hospital, however thanks to the efforts of public we are now seeing numbers consistently declining, and the threat of the NHS and other health services being overwhelmed within 21 days has receded.

“We should be under no illusions –  transmission rates, hospital pressures and deaths are still very high.

"In time, the vaccines will have a major impact and we encourage everyone to get vaccinated when they receive the offer.

"However for the time being it is really important that we all – vaccinated or not – remain vigilant and continue to follow the guidelines.

“We know how difficult the situation has been and remains to be for healthcare workers, we thank them for their immense effort, skill and professionalism throughout the pandemic.”

It comes as a total of 16,337,561 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and February 24, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 411,146 on the previous day’s figures.

Of this number, 15,794,992 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 396,937 on the previous day, while 542,569 were a second dose, an increase of 14,209.

In the North-East and Yorkshire, 2,559,054 jabs have been given, including 2,467,886 first doses and 91,168 second doses.