London has recorded no new cases of coronavirus for a full 24 hour period, the latest official data shows.
Public Health England data shows that none of the Covid-19 swabs taken in the capital on Monday came back positive.
It was a fall from 19 cases the previous day.
Officials put the steep decline down to a technical hitch in the patient notification system over the weekend, with NHS England confirming it "did not operate for a period of time" on Saturday.
But the latest data is the first sign that the capital, which was ravaged by the virus early on in the outbreak, is starting to see light.
It follows research by PHE and the University of Cambridge's MRC Biostatic Unit that suggested the rate of infection has fallen to just 24 per day.
The Department of Health insisted that the new statistics do not mean an end to the pandemic is in sight.
But the hopeful figures back other recent data showing London's infection rate was halving every 3.5 days.
The new epicentre of the virus for daily cases being recorded is now the north east of England.
It comes as the UK's daily coronavirus death toll jumped by 363 on Wednesday.
It brings the total number of people who died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive to 35,704.
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Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told the Downing Street briefing that in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Wednesday, 177,216 tests were carried out or dispatched, with 2,472 positive results.
