Test and Trace figures show positive tests in England are down by 34% in a week.
Surge testing for the South African Covid variant is taking place in six London boroughs in a bid to halt its spread.
Residents in the SE16 postcode in Southwark, N3 in Barnet, HA2 in Harrow and UB3 in Hillingdon are being urged to get tested, as well as all residents of Lambeth and Wandsworth.
Surge testing is also being carried out in parts of Smethwick in the West Midlands.
Around 4.7 million people were waiting for routine operations and procedures in England in February - the highest since 2007, NHS England figures show
Nearly 388,000 were waiting more than a year for non-urgent surgery compared with just 1,600 before the pandemic.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to give the NHS "all the funding that it needs" to tackle the backlog.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was "glad" she had the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and it was "emotional"
More than 200,000 new daily cases have been confirmed in India as the virus spreads.
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