THERE are more coronavirus patients hospitalised in England now than during the peak of the first wave, it has emerged.

According to NHS England there were 20,426 patients in hospitals on Monday – up from the high of 18,974 back in April.

UK-wide hospitalisation data has not been fully available since December 22 when there were 21,286 people in hospital with the virus, only slightly less than the April peak of 21,683.

Yesterday the UK set a record by hitting its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases, recording more than 40,000 positive tests for the first time.

READ MORE: Covid in Scotland: Relaxation of Christmas rules will come at a 'cost'

Most cases were from England while Wales recorded more than 2000 and Northern Ireland found 1600. Scotland recorded fewer than 1000.

It was reported that hospitals in England are under so much pressure some are needing to treat patients in ambulances, while staff fear a worsening situation in the new year.

Yesterday Queen Elizabeth Hospital, London, declared an emergency incident due to its high number of Covid patients.

The National:

Dr Adrian Boyle of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said the situation is "very tough" and that the problem in London "could easily spread" across the rest of the UK. 

He said: "Ambulances keep coming in - we are desperate to offload ambulances, that's always been a priority for us.

"You feel terrible and a sense of helplessness when you can't… because your emergency department is full."

Now national coronavirus restrictions are needed to prevent a “catastrophe” at the start of 2021, a member of the UK Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) has warned.

READ MORE: Please, no more English ‘tiers’ when referring to Scottish levels

Asked about the new, more transmissible coronavirus variant, Andrew Hayward, professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at University College London, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think we are entering a very dangerous new phase of the pandemic and we’re going to need decisive, early, national action to prevent a catastrophe in January and February.

“A 50% increase in transmissibility means that the previous levels of restrictions that worked before won’t work now, and so Tier 4 restrictions are likely to be necessary or even higher than that.

“I think we’re really looking at a situation where we’re moving into near lockdown, but we’ve got to learn the lessons from the first lockdown.”