A further 119,789 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the UK as of 9am on Thursday, the Government said, a new record for daily reported cases.

The Government said a further 147 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.

Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have now been 173,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said there had been 16,817 additional confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 reported across the UK.

This brings the total confirmed cases of the variant in the UK to 90,906.

A total of 2,097 people were in hospital in London with Covid-19 as of 8am on December 23, according to new figures from NHS England.

This is the highest number since February 27 and is up 44pc from a week earlier.

During the second wave of coronavirus, the number peaked at 7,917 on January 18.

Across England, 7,114 patients were in hospital with Covid-19 on December 23, the highest number since November 4 and up 11pc week-on-week.

The second-wave peak for England was 34,336 on January 18.

There were 307 Covid-19 admissions recorded by hospitals in London on December 21, NHS England said.

This is up 54pc week-on-week and the highest number for a single day since February 4.

Admissions in London during the second wave peaked at 977 on January 6.

Across England, 1,098 admissions were recorded on December 21, up 35pc week-on-week and the highest number for a single day since February 18.

The second-wave peak was 4,134 admissions on January 12.

The number of Covid-19 admissions includes people admitted to hospital in the previous 24 hours who were known to have Covid-19, plus any patients diagnosed in hospital with Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours.