A record number of people have tested positive for Covid-19 in England as millions spend Christmas Day away from friends and family due to a continuing spike in coronavirus infections on Friday.
Figures from the National Health Service’s (NHS) Test and Trace network show that between December 10 and 16, 173,875 people received a positive result — the highest weekly total of positive cases and a 58 per cent increase on the previous week.
Separately, according to the the Office for National Statistics (ONS), positive cases of coronavirus are increasing sharply in parts of the UK, with around one in 60 people now testing positive in Wales and one in 85 in England.
Experts believe the new mutations of the deadly virus are driving cases up across the country as they are more contagious. It has resulted in most parts of the UK to be placed in some form of stringent lockdown measures, with London and surrounding areas in Tier 4 level of highest alert with a near-complete shutdown.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that tougher restrictions could be needed to keep a mutant coronavirus strain “running out of control” in the New Year.