The number of Coronavirus cases recorded in one day in the UK has hit a new record high, according to the latest data.
A total of 189,213 people tested positive for the virus as of 9am on Thursday - the highest number ever recorded in one day since the pandemic began.
The total includes reported figures for Wales covering a two-day period.
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This is another increase on the 183,037 people who had a confirmed positive test result reported as of Wednesday, December 29.
The Government has also said a further 332 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
The figure includes a backlog of hospital deaths reported by NHS England covering the period of December 24-29.
A total of 11,898 people were in hospital in England with Covid-19 as of 8am on December 30, according to figures from NHS England.
This is the highest number of patients since March 2, when there were 12,139 in hospital.
This is up 44 per cent week-on-week, when the figure on December 22 stood at 8,254 patients.
The Government figures also show there were 1,152 Covid-19 hospital admissions in the UK on December 24.
Other figures reveal there have now been 172,657 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
And 51,738,013 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been delivered in the UK by December 29, Government figures show.
This is a rise of 32,607 on the previous day, December 29.
Some 47,368,074 second doses have been delivered, an increase of 43,766.
A total of 435,293 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported in the UK on Wednesday.
Around 63 per cent of all adults in the UK have now received a booster or third dose.
Experts say it could take several days for figures to reflect the impact of infections caught over Christmas, due to a lag in data collection over the holidays.
It comes as the government struggles to keep up with the demand for lateral flow tests, which are handed out for free by the NHS.
People are being encouraged to test themselves at home using the kits before socialising.
A UK Health Security Agency spokesperson said almost eight million test kits would be made available to pharmacies by New Year’s Eve.
