Good Morning Britain medic Dr Sarah Jarvis says she is 'genuinely worried' about a new South African strain of coronavirus.
Speaking to GMB presenters Charlotte Hawkins and Alex Berresford this morning, she said she was worried the strain will have an impact on the NHS in the middle of winter, the Mirror reports.
The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, announced on Thursday that many new areas would be moved into Tier 4, mostly in the South and East of England.
But Dr Jarvis fears it is "too little, too late."
The UK later recorded a record 39,297 new cases and 744 deaths - the highest since April this year during the first wave of the pandemic.
Dr Jarvis said: "I don't think there is any question [that the new strain] could cause more problems.
"It's a strain that's come in from South Africa and the thing that really worries me about it is that there are rumours from South Africa that it can cause more severe illness among young people.
"If we can't keep a lid on this South African case, things could get even worse."
Charlotte asked: "Some are saying for those who can see people on Christmas Day and then on Boxing Day they can't, are we going to see a knock-on third spike as a consequence from this?'
Dr Jarvis replied: "I genuinely worry that that will be the case, we are just below the peak of the number of people we saw at the height in April.
"What really worries me is that April was not the middle of winter. It genuinely worries me that the NHS won't be able to cope if we go above the number of cases that we had in the March/April lockdown, with winter pressures on top."
GMB airs on weekdays on ITV at 6am.
