Good Morning Britain's Dr Hilary Jones says people who deny how prevalent coronavirus is and break the lockdown measures "have blood on their hands".
Speaking to hosts Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway, Dr Hilary made an impassioned speech to viewers to adhere to the new lockdown as Covid cases continue to rise.
He added that we will not see the true effect of people mingling on Christmas Day and New Years until January 19th, and he has fears over whether hospitals can cope.
"We have to be realistic," said Hilary.
"We have got better treatments, and some good news, we have vaccination rollouts, we have got lockdown and we have got new medications and airport testing, all of which could be better but we are getting there slowly.
"But we must take lockdown much more seriously, because when I look on the road, there are more cars than saw in the first lockdown.
"People are finding excuses to get around the guidelines, and they have got blood on their hands because we are in a very serious situation."
Ben noted that 10,000 people had been admitted to hospital since Christmas Day, with 800 new admissions per day, and Dr Hilary replied that by the end of the month we could be 5,000 hospital beds short.
"I don’t want to scare people, I just want to install a sense of reality about where we are," he added.
He said the virus is currently transmitting more rapidly, and there are more cases in younger people.
"This is not the time to be complacent, and virus deniers and flouters have blood on their hands," he reiterated.
Dr Hilary also said it was good news that research has shown arthritis drugs tocilizumab and sarilumab can help people in intensive care with Covid survive longer.
* Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV at 6am
