Coronavirus cases in the UK have hit a record high with nearly 130,000 new infections reported in the last 24 hours.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed there had been a further 129,471 lab cases of the virus as of 9am on Tuesday (December 28).
It is the highest daily total of cases since mass testing began, despite the figures not including any data for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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A further 18 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, the Government said.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 173,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
An additional 17,269 confirmed cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant have also been reported across the nation, according to the UKHSA.
This brings the total number of cases of the variant in the UK to 177,201 - although no case numbers have been reported in Scotland or Wales since December 23.
The number of deaths in England of people with the Omicron variant has risen to 49, with hospital admissions due to Omicron rising to 668.
A total of 9,546 people were in hospital in England with Covid-19 as of 8am on December 28, according to new figures from NHS England.
This is up 38 per cent from a week earlier and is the highest number since March 3.
During the second wave of coronavirus, the number peaked at 34,336 on January 18.
In London, 3,024 people were in hospital with Covid-19 on December 28, up 59% week-on-week and the highest number since February 19.
The latest record-breaking figures come as Health Secretary Sajid Javid told the public that no new restrictions would be introduced in England before the new year.
But ministers including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have urged people to be "cautious".
NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson said there has been an increase in the number of Covid patients in hospital, but warned against misinterpreting the data.
"The difference this time is we’ve got quite a few patients who are coming in – they might have fallen off their bike and knocked their head or broken their leg – and what’s happening is they’ve got no symptoms but when they arrive, they’re actually testing positive for Covid," he said.
Mr Hopson warned that staff absences could pose a bigger challenge to the health service than patients needing treatment for Covid.
"We’re now seeing a significant increase in the level of staff absences, and quite a few of our chief executives are saying that they think that that’s probably going to be a bigger problem and a bigger challenge for them than necessarily the number of people coming in who need treatment because of Covid," he said.
"So what we’re seeing is in some hospitals, we’re now having to redeploy staff to fill the gaps that are being left in critical and essential services by staff who are off with Covid-related absences."
