Boris Johnson has held a Downing Street press conference after the UK reported a record 78,610 daily Covid infections amid surging transmission of the Omicron variant.
The Prime Minister updated the country on the progress of the booster jab programme, as vaccine passes came into effect for large venues.
It came as the Premier League’s Covid-19 crisis deepened with Burnley’s home match with Watford becoming the third game in a week to be postponed.
Earlier, Mr Johnson announced the retired Court of Appeal judge and crossbench life peer Baroness Heather Hallett will chair the public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency warned Omicron is “probably the most significant threat we’ve had since the start of the pandemic”.
Dr Jenny Harries told MPs that the virus has a doubling time “which is shortening” and is now under two days in most regions in the UK.
