Alarming figures show the number of Covid patients is rising in all English regions - with Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham among the areas heaviest hit.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid is facing mounting pressure to switch to his 'Plan B', which would see compulsory mask wearing in some places and the introduction of vaccine passports.
Last night he resisted calls to increase measures in spite of warnings the NHS is on the brink of a winter crisis.
UK cases have spiralled in recent days, with more than 320,000 people testing positive for the virus in the past seven days - a 17 per cent rise from the previous week.
Fatalities are also on the rise, with 954 lives lost to Covid - more than 21 per cent higher than the week before.
More than 6,000 people were admitted to hospital in that time, a rise of more than 11 per cent.
As of yesterday at 8am, the North East and Yorkshire had the most Covid hospitalisations with 1,312 people in hospital.
The Midlands was not far behind with 1,263 people in hospital, followed by 959 in London, and 958 in the North West.
The East of England had the lowest number of patients hospitalised by the virus, with 584 people, with the South West having 571 Covid patients and the South East 652.
But with 6,299 people currently hospitalised with the virus across the country, rates continue to rise.
Hospitalisations in the South East are up 39%, while the East and South West both saw a 32% rise in hospitalisation rates, with the North West, Midlands, North East and Yorkshire all seeing 16% spikes.
London had the lowest rise with a 15% increase in hospitalised patients.
The rises follow a relatively steady period in hospital numbers over the previous month.
Analysis by The Mirror reveals that of the 20 NHS hospital trusts with the highest number of Covid patients, just six were treating more people last Tuesday than they were a month earlier.
One, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, was treating the same number, while 13 had recorded a fall.
The NHS trusts treating the highest number of Covid patients on Tuesday last week were:
- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust - 198, down from 216 a month earlier
- Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust - 139, the same as a month earlier
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust - 107, down from 136 a month earlier
- University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust - 96, up from 87 a month earlier
- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust - 94, down from 135 a month earlier
- Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust - 93, up from 79 a month earlier
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 91, down from 112 a month earlier
- County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust - 87, up from 67 a month earlier
- Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 85, down from 163 a month earlier
- Barts Health NHS Trust (London) - 79, down from 125 a month earlier
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust - 79, down from 107 a month earlier
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust - 76, down from 89 a month earlier
- Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust - 76, up from 55 a month earlier
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust - 75, down from 95 a month earlier
- The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 72, up from 49 a month earlier
- Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust - 66, down from 87 a month earlier
- King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - 65, down from 91 a month earlier
- South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust - 64, down from 89 a month earlier
- Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 63, up from 44 a month earlier
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust - 62, down from 91 a month earlier
Despite calls from the NHS Confederation to impose a ‘Plan B’ now or face an NHS crisis, Mr Javid was adamant that it was not necessary.
He said the NHS was not yet under “unsustainable” pressure and called on Brits to show their “Blitz spirit” and get their booster Covid jab.
Mr Javid said: "I’ve got a lot of time for the NHS Confederation… they do a lot of good work.
"On this particular question we don’t believe the pressures currently faced by the NHS are unsustainable.
"Don't get me wrong, there are huge pressures, especially in A&E, in primary care for example as well.
"But at this point we don't believe they are unsustainable."
The Health Secretary did call upon people to continue to wear face masks in enclosed spaces but refused to make doing so compulsory.
Many are concerned of another tough winter as Covid surges and that any government action may come too late to make a meaningful difference.
Mr Javid warned that restrictions would “of course” return if Brits did not wear masks or get their booster jabs when able to.
Yesterday experts warned that the government's Plan B needs to be strengthened to avert disaster.
Dr Deepti Gurdasani, public health researcher at the Queen Mary University of London, said thousands of lives could be saved in coming weeks - but the government's plan does not go far enough.
Dr Gurdasani told The Mirror that compulsory isolation for schoolchildren who have been exposed to Covid and the closure of poorly-ventilated venues like nightclubs over the winter must be considered.
She said that at the current rate a further 8,000 lives could be lost to Covid in the two months to Christmas.
Dr Gurdasani said: "We need to remember that the NHS is in crisis, healthcare doctors will tell you that. There's very little leeway, emergency response times are high pretty much all across England.
"Right now people can't get emergency care, which means avoidable deaths.
"Most people don't realise that we're an exception to the rest of the world who aren't tolerating this level of deaths."
