• NHS England data shows staff were treating 17,000 patients a day in mid-April
• But data shows that figure has now dropped to 700 patients a day as of August 6
• Coronavirus death figures in hospitals have also plummeted since mid-April
• 866 people were dying in hospitals, but five died of coronavirus on Thursday 

Many of Britain's coronavirus wards are standing empty as new figures have today revealed that the number of people in hospital and dying from Covid-19 has plummeted by 99 per cent since the height of the pandemic.

Coronavirus death figures in hospitals have plummeted from 866 people a day at the height on April 10 of the pandemic to five last Thursday. 

The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 has also plummeted by 96 per cent since the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, according to official data.

Under pressure hospital staff were treating more than 17,000 patients a day for coronavirus in England at the height of the pandemic in mid-April.

But as of August 6, official NHS England data shows staff were treating 700 Covid-19 patients. 

It comes as it has been revealed some hospitals did not have a single coronavirus patient on their wards last week, with one top doctor suggesting that Britain is 'almost reaching herd immunity', according to The Sunday Times.

One doctor also described the downturn as 'huge' and said he did not expect a future increase in hospital admissions.

Doctor Ron Daniels, an intensive care consultant in Birmingham, told the Times: 'I think that's highly unlikely, because the pubs have been open for over a month, people have been interacting heavily during that time and the natural history of the disease is that and you are going to end up in hospital you are pretty much in hospital within 15 days of contracting it.

He also suggested the downturn could be due to the most vulnerable in the UK having contracted the virus in 'March and April' and that the virus may have become 'less virulent'.   

It comes as preliminary figures today reveal a further ten people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died in Britain.

The latest figures - which only cover deaths in hospital - bring the UK's total death toll during the pandemic to 46,576. 

The numbers are likely to be higher when figures for deaths across all settings - including in care homes and the wider community - are revealed.

Both Scotland and Wales reported no further deaths.

Figures released on Sunday are usually smaller due to a delay in processing over the weekend.

Scotland has reported 48 new cases today, while Wales has reported a further 26.

England has not released its case figures yet.

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Northern Ireland stopped reporting its data on the virus at weekends so the daily figures for positive cases are for Britain only.

The figures came as a landmark coronavirus study found the risk of transmission in classrooms is minimal, ratcheting up pressure on the Education Secretary to fully reopen schools in September.

Boris Johnson is understood to have warned that Gavin Williamson's 'head will be on the chopping block' if pupils are not back in lessons next month.

The Prime Minister has declared resuming classes a 'national priority' and is planning an advertising blitz to urge anxious parents to send their child back to school.

His campaign was yesterday bolstered by encouraging scientific evidence which found a low threat of catching infection in schools.

Government Sage adviser Professor Russell Viner outlined the forthcoming Public Health England study and stressed that reopening schools was 'imperative'.

'A new study that has been done in UK schools confirms there is very little evidence that the virus is transmitted in schools,' he told the Sunday Times.

'This is some of the largest data you will find on schools anywhere. Britain has done very well in terms of thinking of collecting data in schools.'

Labour, the unions, and the Children's Commissioner have all today voiced support for the principle of schools reopening in September.

But thorny issues such as routine testing and the wearing of masks remain - which were both today slapped down by the schools minister.

Prof Viner, also president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said keeping schools shut would take a further toll on both young people's academic attainment and mental health.

Mr Johnson outlined similar concerns in an article for today's Mail on Sunday where he heralded the resuming of lessons a 'moral duty' and 'crucial' for pupils' 'welfare, their health and for their future.'

He wrote: 'The education of our children is crucial for their welfare, their health and for their future. That is why it is a national priority to get all pupils back into school in September.

'The message I have given to Ministers and civil servants is this: we can do it – and we will do it. Social justice demands it.'

He spoke of the 'uplifting sight… as millions of parents rose to the challenge of educating their children' amid the added pressures of lockdown, but said that had to end.

The PHE study, which tested more than 20,000 pupils and 100 teachers, is hoped to allay the concerns of wary teacher unions, which thwarted ministers' initial attempts to resume classes for fears of staff catching the virus.