A TOP Bradford doctor tonight said there are "real seeds of hope" as numbers of Covid-19 hospital admissions - and deaths - fall.

Professor John Wright appeared on Look North this evening to talk about the current situation.

He told the programme: "What we're finding is that in the community, as across Yorkshire, rates are falling, particularly in the over-60 year olds.

"This is the combination both of the affect of lockdown, but also the vaccination roll-out

"In hospitals, it's a little bit of a lag always, but in BRI, as in other hospitals across the region we're seeing quite significant falls in number of admissions and also, more importantly, the numbers of deaths."

Prpf Wright, director of the Bradford Institute for Health Research at the BRI, said the "future is bright" but that it has been "relentless" for staff.

However, he said the vaccination roll-out had helped morale.

"Not just in terms of personal protection when you're on the ward, but also seeing how that's affected the reduction of the number of admissions we're seeing, but also a reduction in the severity of the patients that we're seeing," he told the programme.

On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to lay out plans for the easing of lockdown, but Prof Wright warned restrictions must be eased cautiously.

He said: "All the figures, all the data is looking good. I think we should be cautious, because this is still early days and we still have high rates of the virus circulating in the community still, back to where we were in September/October.

"We do not want to be back in the situation ever again, so let's do it slowly, let's do it cautiously, but let's do it with hope in our hearts."