INTERNATIONAL: On Tuesday Uk recorded 53,135 new COVID-19 cases and 414 related deaths breaking its daily record since the pandemic began for a second day in a row.
The previous highest record was reported on Monday when the UK reported 41,385 coronavirus cases and 357 deaths.
People in England are being urged to stick to COVID-19 restrictions amid fears that NHS hospitals in London could become over loaded.
England reported 41,000+ new COVID cases on Mon., its highest single-day figure since March, as well as record hospitalizations. Scientists blame a new, more contagious strain of the virus for the spike.
A surge in coronavirus cases in the UK is of “extreme concern”, a health boss says, as a record number of cases was reported for the second day running.
Not all data was reported in full over the Christmas period, leading to a lag in some data, but Public Health England said there had been a “real increase”.
The health secretary said the NHS was facing “unprecedented pressures”.
Ahead of an announcement on any changes to England’s tier restrictions on Wednesday, Matt Hancock added in a tweet : “We must suppress this virus to protect our NHS & save lives until the vaccine can keep us safe.”
Hospitals in England and Wales are now treating more Covid patients than at the peak of the first wave in April.
Health workers are “back in the eye of the storm,” said the UK’s NHS head.
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Dr Susan Hopkins, senior medical adviser at PHE, said: “We are continuing to see unprecedented levels of Covid-19 infection across the UK, which is of extreme concern, particularly as our hospitals are at their most vulnerable.
“Whilst the number of cases reported today include some from over the festive period, these figures are largely a reflection of a real increase.”
It comes a day after more than 40,000 daily virus cases were announced for the first time in the UK, although it is thought infection rates were higher earlier in the year, before mass testing.
People in Scotland have been urged to stay at home and not celebrate Hogmanay with other households .
And in Northern Ireland a top doctor has warned a third surge of Covid cases is expected in mid-January , in part driven by the spread of a new coronavirus variant.