A map shows how the Covid rate in Colchester has fallen significantly in the past two weeks. 

England's chief medical officer has said the UK has past the peak of the current wave of the pandemic.

Professor Chris Whitty said that coronavirus cases, hospital admissions and deaths will continue to fall “provided people continue to follow the guidelines” and that all four nations were on the “downward slope”.

But he stressed that though rates are coming down, they remain “incredibly high” – and could rise quickly – plunging the NHS “back into trouble extraordinarily fast”.

“I think that most of my colleagues think we are past the peak,” Prof Whitty told a Downing Street press conference.

“Now that doesn’t mean you could never have another peak. But, at this point in time, provided people continue to follow the guidelines, we’re on the downward slope of cases, of hospitalisations and of deaths, in all four of the nations of the United Kingdom.

“So I think, we do think, at this point, this peak at least, we are past.”

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Prof Whitty's comments are backed up by a dramatic drop in infection rates and cases in Colchester over the past two weeks.

The borough's rate rapidly rose at the end of last year and start of this, however, it appears things are now heading the right direction. 

The Government's Covid hotspots map shows the sharp drop in infection rates in Colchester when you compared January 15 and January 29. 

Infection rates have been falling in all parts of Colchester in recent days and this map shows the difference two weeks has made.

On January 15, most of the borough was coloured purple, meaning they have infection rates between 400 and 799 cases per 100,000 people.

As of January 29, most areas are in the 200 to 399 cases per 100,000 people category. 

The vaerage infection rate in Colchester continues to fall and is now 272.2 cases per 100,000 people.

This is because there were 530 cases confirmed in the seven days to January 30.