helping the high street a retail boss calls on the chancellor to cut business rates to help shops get back on their feet. and this is what should happen this evening on mars if nasa s perseverence lives up to its name. and coming up on bbc news. a tearful goodbye for serena williams, as she bows out of the australian open at the semifinal stage, good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. scientists say there s been a strong decline in the number of covid infections in england since the latest lockdown began. it is working, it seems. researchers at imperial college who ve been tracking the pandemic say infection rates have dropped by two thirds. but there are warnings that virus levels are still high, particularly among the under 25s. the vaccination programme also appears to be having a positive imapct on the number of deaths being recorded. but concerns remain about certain groups of people, among them black and asian communities, who are not taking up the vaccine
help for key workers living with long covid. and a nail biting day for nasa as it aims to land its perseverance rocket on the surface of mars. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. there s been a marked decline in levels of coronavirus infections in england since january, say scientists tracking the epidemic. a study by imperial college london found that infections have fallen by two thirds across england since the latest lockdown began, with an 80% fall in the capital itself. but it warns that levels are still high, particularly among primary school age children and young adults, with one in 200 testing positive between the 4th and 13th february. that s similar to levels seen in september. katharine da costa has the details. friends and family kept apart. many businesses kept on hold. lockdown has taken its toll on all of us, but researchers say it has helped to take infection levels in england down to those last seen in september. imperial college s react survey looked at
through space, the rover, called perseverance, survived a perilous high speed plunge through the martian atmosphere and made it safely onto the surface of the red planet confirming its arrival an hour ago with a tweet. these the first images it sent back, within moments. it s the most advanced rover ever sent to another world one that hopes to eventually return samples to earth. and its mission is to search for ancient life that may have existed billions of years ago. tonight s landing is all the more impressive, given how much could have gone wrong. here s our science correspondent rebecca morelle. and a warning her report contains some flashing images. perseverance is going about one per second. a nerve racking wait at mission control. it s landed safely, on the surface of mars! cheering. and then celebrations as a signal is received from mars. it s touchdown for nasa s perseverance rover. and these are its first images, a view of its landing sites before it starts to
approach. that is a particularly constructive a- roach. :: ., ~ . that is a particularly constructive auroach. :: ., ~ . ., approach. the £20 a week increase to universal credit approach. the £20 a week increase to universal credit claimed approach. the £20 a week increase to universal credit claimed by approach. the £20 a week increase to universal credit claimed by almost - approach. the £20 a week increase to universal credit claimed by almost 6 i universal credit claimed by almost 6 million people comes to an end today. from next week, anybody who wants to get into a nightclub or large event in wales will need a covid pass to show they have been fully vaccinated, or have recently tested negative. how a 200 million year old dinosaur fossils discovered in the drawers of the natural history museum. and a horse in shropshire has been successfully cloned from a champion racehorse. good morning. boris johnson will close the conservative party conference today by decl