The UK has recorded a further 10 Covid deaths for the second day in a row – but Wales and Northern Ireland’s data is not included due to Easter delays.
Today’s daily death toll marks a 47 per cent drop on last Sunday.
Prior to Saturday, the last time the country’s death toll was this low was on September 14, 2020, when nine deaths and 2,621 cases were recorded.
The Government’s official data also revealed a further 2,297 people tested positive for coronavirus today, a 40.5 per cent drop on last week.
But cases and deaths figures over Easter will likely be lower due to incomplete data and a longer-than-usual lag in reporting due to the bank holiday weekend.
Northern Ireland and Wales did not report any deaths or cases because of the delays.
As Britain sees its first weekend since lockdown rules were relaxed to allow outdoor mixing in groups of six, the UK’s vaccine total triumphantly hit 36,904,755 yesterday.
A further 97,328 people were given their first dose, while 176,240 were given their second.
April is expected to be a month of second doses because millions are due their final jab as the 12 week deadline approaches.
Britons made the most of the relaxed rules and bright, sunny weather by heading to beauty spots across the country on Easter Sunday.
Families met in small groups outdoors to celebrate Easter Sunday together today, as temperatures reached 64.4F (18C) in the South of England, and northern parts saw highs of 59F (15C).
It comes as Boris Johnson scrapped plans to force drinkers and families out for a meal to show a coronavirus vaccine passport to get into pubs and restaurants in the face of huge political opposition.
The Prime Minister is expected to announce a wave of pilot events in April and May where proof of a jab will be required for entry, to avoid the need for social distancing.
Visitors on the beach looking up to the top of the limestone arch waiting for the base jumpers to leap off. This is the shocking moment two daredevils jumped off the top of the Durdle Door arch using parachutes, Lulworth in Dorset
Visitors flock to Durdle Door in Dorset on a day of warm spring sunshine and a cool breeze during Easter Sunday
Crowds are seen flowing the path to and from the beach in Durdle Door, Lulworth, Dorset on Easter Sunday
The Hot Walls in Old Portsmouth proved popular today, Easter Sunday, as the Spring sun shone in Hampshire
Friends Roisin, Aislin and Gillian made the most of the warm weather on Easter Sunday as they met up for a picnic on Wimbledon Common
People flocked to the beaches during the Bank Holiday as a sea of cars parked near the Storey Arms in the Brecon Beacons on Sunday
A couple relaxed together in Wimbledon Common in south London during the spring sunshine on the balmy Bank Holiday weekend
They include 21,000 fans at the FA Cup Final at Wembley, spectators at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield and a mass participation run in Hatfield, Herts.
But it emerged today that a series of nightlife events in Liverpool, including a club that can hold 3,000 people, will not be used to test the passport scheme.
A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said on Sunday: ‘The line which was briefed out yesterday by the Government about Liverpool’s events being included in the vaccine passports trials is incorrect – none of our events in Liverpool will involve them.’
The Liverpool pilots – a comedy gig, an outdoor cinema, a club night and a business event – will ‘gather evidence associated with different settings and approaches to managing and mitigating transmission risk’.
Boris Johnson scrapped plans to ask landlords to enforce a pub vaccine passport scheme
Entry to festivals and major sporting events will only be allowed to those with either an NHS app or certificate showing they have had a covid jab, the Prime Minister is expected to announce on Monday (file image)
Millions could go to pubs with no social distancing under plans to let drinkers use mobile phones to prove they are free of Covid. This graphic shows how the app would have worked
And sports minister Nigel Huddleston confirmed this afternoon: ‘It is not just about certification actually, in fact the earlier programmes, the earlier pilots almost certainly won’t involve any element of certification but it will involve testing, making sure people are tested before and after the event.
‘What we will be looking at is the mitigation measures, so the ventilation, one-way systems, hygiene measures, all of those kind of things to help inform long term decision making.’
Meanwhile Tory civil liberties campaigner and former minister David Davis today blasted the idea of passports.
He said he agreed with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer that they were ‘un-British’, telling LBC radio: ‘We wouldn’t do this for flu, flu can kill up to 25,000 people a year.
‘Vaccines will reduce this illness to killing a lot less than that every year, then we will have to accommodate it, but not by giving up our basic freedoms.’
It comes as Matt Hancock was summoned by the High Court to justify why non-essential shops will be allowed to open before the full return of pubs and restaurants.
Matt Hancock has been summoned to the High Court to justify why non-essential shops will be allowed to open before the full return of pubs and restaurants
Pizza Express founder Hugh Osmond and nightclubs operator Sacha Lord launched a legal challenge claiming the Government has ‘failed’ to provide evidence for delaying the return of indoor drinking.
Pubs and restaurants in England will be able to lift the shutters of their outdoor areas to customers from April 12 – in line with the reopening of non-essential retail.
But the pair believe hospitality England should also be allowed to open indoor areas on the same day, rather than the current planned date of May 17.
They claim the risk of Covid transmission is higher in shops than it is in pubs and restaurants.
Now High Court judge Mr Justice Swift has ordered that the Health Secretary ‘shall by 10am on Tuesday April 6 file and serve his response to the application’.
However, it is unlikely that Mr Hancock will attend in person. Officials from the Department for Health and Social Care are likely to attend on his behalf.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Osmond said: ‘The Government left us no choice but to take it to court.
It comes after Pizza Express founder Hugh Osmond and nightclubs operator Sacha Lord launched a legal challenge claiming the Government has ‘failed’ to provide evidence for delaying the return of indoor drinking
Pubs and restaurants in England will be able to lift the shutters of their outdoor areas from April 12 – in line with the reopening of non-essential retail. But the pair believe hospitality England should also be allowed to open indoor areas on the same day, rather than the current planned date of May 17. Pictured: Friends enjoy a drink at a pub in July last year
Now High Court (pictured) judge Mr Justice Swift has ordered that the Health Secretary ‘shall by 10am on Tuesday April 6 file and serve his response to the application’
‘This is a truly urgent matter affecting the lives of millions that simply cannot wait.’
A spokesperson for DHSC told MailOnline: ‘As the Prime Minister has said, we want this lockdown to be the last.
‘We have followed the science at all times which is why we are easing restrictions in a way that is cautious and in response to the latest available evidence to reduce transmission, protect the NHS and save lives.
‘We have continued to support the hospitality sector throughout the pandemic, including our new £5 billion Restart Grant scheme, extending the furlough scheme and the VAT cut, and providing 750,000 businesses in hospitality and other sectors with business rates relief.’