The number of new Covid-19 cases in Tendring fell by almost 35 per cent in the past week.

According to latest figures, there were 194 new cases recorded on Wednesday, bringing this total number for the past seven days to 1,055 - down 34.8 per cent the previous week.

There were two Covid-related deaths reported in the seven days to Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths in Tendring within 28 days of a positive Covid test to 641.

This comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Plan B restrictions aimed at tackling the spread of Covid-19 will be dropped from next Thursday.

Harwich MP Sir Bernard Jenkin has welcomed the decision.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted and I think this shows Boris Johnson called it right at the beginning of the Omicron variant when he refused to be panicked into much more severe restrictions.

“Now the figures are showing hospitalisations are down and infection rates are falling “The vaccination rates are much higher so the UK is in a leading position of the developed countries.”

Speaking about the recent Downing Street party revelations, Sir Bernard said “we must wait until we’ve got a set of facts that is undisputed”.

An inquiry led by civil servant Sue Gray is currently under way to establish the nature of the social gatherings during lockdown and whether individual disciplinary action should be taken.

But Clacton MP Giles Watling said he felt “let down” after the Prime Minister admitted attending a party at Number 10 while England was in lockdown.

The Prime Minister apologised for attending the gathering, but said he thought it was a works event.

“Fundamentally the whole thing is a big let-down and those that make the rules should stick to them,” said Mr Watling.

“I was unable to visit my dying sister until the very end and I had restrictions on being able to see my family and this has been reflected up and down the country.”

It was this week revealed that thousands of Essex residents were slapped with fines for breaching coronavirus laws while Downing Street workers held their own rule-breaking parties.

Essex Police handed out 1,504 fixed penalty notices between March 2020 and December last year, according to data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council.