More than 30,000 Covid cases have been confirmed in the UK for the fifth day in a row.
The Department of Health said 31,772 people have tested positive for the virus in 24 hours, just eight days before England's 'Freedom Day'.
A further 26 deaths were also reported, bringing the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 128,425.
In the past seven days there have been 203 coronavirus fatalities - a week-on-week rise of 66.4 per cent.
Hospital admissions have also shot up, latest figures show, with 563 yesterday and 3,081 in the past seven days - a 56.6 per cent increase.
Last week new Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that daily cases could hit 100,000 over the summer - but added that the link between infections and hospitalisations were "severely weakened".
In the past seven days there have been 221,052 confirmed cases of the virus, 47,390 more than the week before.
From July 19, social distancing rules will be lifted and people will no longer be required to wear masks indoors - a move which experts say they are uneasy with.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said yesterday: "We've only just heard in this bulletin about the rising numbers of cases, the rising numbers of people requiring hospital treatment, in intensive care and sadly deaths are starting to rise again, too.
"There seems to be a misapprehension that life will return to normal from then (July 19), and that we can throw away all the precautions, and frankly, that would be dangerous."
Warnings were echoed by Greater Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham, who told the Observer it was more like "anxiety day".
He told the newspaper: "The Government is simply wrong to frame everything from here as a matter of pure personal choice. It is not.
"Many people who are vulnerable to the virus have to use public transport and do their food shopping in person. That is why the wearing of face coverings in these settings should have remained mandatory.
"I will be strongly encouraging the people of Greater Manchester to continue to wear masks on public transport out of respect for others."
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Javid said anyone who would not wear a mask in an enclosed space was "just being irresponsible" - despite it becoming guidance rather than the law.
Labour's shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: "Given Sajid Javid now considers it irresponsible to not wear masks then it would be equally irresponsible for his government to carry on with the plan to lift mask requirements while infections are heading to 100,000 a day."
On Friday The Mirror reported that daily Covid cases have trebled since England's aborted Freedom Day on June 21 as the Delta variant fuels a massive rise.
On that day, the Department of Health confirmed 10,467 people had contracted the virus.
At the start of Boris Johnson's roadmap out of lockdown in March, infections had fallen to less than 5,000 a day.
The PM announced that the rise meant the easing of restrictions would have to be postponed so more people could be vaccinated.
