The UK has recorded more than 40,000 Covid cases for the second day in a row.
Today - Friday, November 19 - saw 44,242 infections registered, according to official government data.
A further 157 fatalities were also recorded.
In comparison, 46,807 cases and 199 deaths were registered yesterday - the highest total since Friday, October 22.
Infections have remained above the 30,000 mark since Sunday, September 19.
The latest figures come as it was warned full lockdowns could return across Europe as a 'fourth wave' sweeps through.
Cases of new Covid infections have surged in various countries.
Germany and Austria are both also seeing a surge in numbers of coronavirus cases each day.
Do you have a story? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk.
Most recent data showed there were more than 65,000 new cases in one day in Germany, and in Austria there was a new record of 15,145.
Across Europe last week more than half of the seven-day averages of infections globally were accounted for, and about half of the latest deaths.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday announced curbs on public life for those not yet vaccinated in areas where hospitals are filling dangerously fast with Covid patients.
Austria has also imposed a lockdown for the unvaccinated.
Earlier, several hundred people protested outside the Austrian Embassy in Paris against Austria's restrictions, fearing France might be next to reimpose curbs aimed at reducing the circulation of the virus.
President Emmanuel Macron said France did not need to follow those European countries imposing lockdowns on unvaccinated people, because of the success of its health pass in curbing the virus' spread.
"Those countries locking down the non-vaccinated are those which have not put in place the (health) pass. Therefore this step is not necessary in France," Macron told La Voix du Nord.
The Telegraph reports that the European Medicines Agency blamed people not getting jabbed and the delta variant for putting pressure on intensive care units.
Dr Marco Cavaleri, of the agency, said: “We are in the midst of what we call the fourth wave.”
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier called for a push for more booster shots to appeal to people who are sceptical about vaccinations.
The Robert Koch Institute reported that confirmed cases had increased by 52,826 as the pandemic's fourth wave tightened its grip on Europe.
"It is not too late to opt for a first vaccine shot," she told a congress of German city mayors.
"Everyone who gets vaccinated protects himself and others. And if enough people get vaccinated that is the way out of the pandemic."
She added that there needs to be a "national effort" to get mass distribution of vaccine booster shots under way, since the protection offered by vaccines began to dwindle six months after the second dose.
Boris Johnson said there was a new threat as cases are spiking in European countries including Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Describing it as a “blizzard”, he said: “We don’t yet know the extent to which this new wave will sweep up on our shores but history shows that we cannot afford to be complacent.”
But despite the surge he has not actually triggered England’s ‘Plan B’ - which stops well short of a lockdown.
