The number of people in hospital with coronavirus in Britain is at its highest since February last year, new figures show, amid increasing pressure on health services.
A total of 17,276 people were in hospital in the UK with Covid-19 as of January 4, Government figures show, up 58 per cent week-on-week and the highest number since February 19.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the country is seeing its fastest growth in cases, as more than 20 National Health Service (NHS) trusts declared a critical incident.
During the second wave of coronavirus, the numbers in hospital peaked at 39,254 on January 18 2021.
There were 2,258 Covid-19 hospital admissions on December 28, the latest UK-wide figure available, up 83 per cent week on week and the highest number since February 3.
Admissions during the second wave peaked at 4,583 on January 12 2021.
In the Commons on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said hospital admissions were "doubling around every nine days" and the country was "experiencing the fastest growth in Covid cases we've ever known".
No 10 said more than 20 trusts had now reached the alert level where priority services may be under threat, but stressed it was "not a good indicator" of the pressures the health service was under.
The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and the North Bristol NHS Trust, which run hospitals including the Bristol Royal Infirmary, the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and Southmead, said they were at their "highest state of alert".
The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said it asked patients with "potentially non-life-threatening" calls to be taken to hospital by a relative if an ambulance was delayed over the bank holiday weekend.
Morecambe Bay NHS Trust and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust were also among those declaring critical incidents.
The Prime Minister's official spokesperson said: "I think my understanding on critical incidents, obviously the numbers do vary... it's worth understanding that critical incidents can last, in some certain circumstances, a matter of hours, a morning or afternoon, a day, some of them can last longer than that.
"So they're not a good indicator necessarily of how the NHS is performing."
He added: "We know that there are a number of trusts that have reported critical incidents.
"I believe it's more than 20 currently, but that number will fluctuate. But again, those critical incidents can vary in terms of their scale, some can relate to one part of the trust, some can be across the whole trust. So it's not a good indicator, necessarily, of NHS performance at any one time."
In changes to the current regulations, pre-departure Covid tests for travellers arriving in England are to be scrapped, Johnson announced, in a major boost for the beleaguered travel industry.
In a Commons statement, the Prime Minister said the Omicron variant is now so prevalent in the country that the measure is having limited impact on the spread of the disease.
He told MPs the requirement for travellers to self-isolate on arrival until they receive a negative PCR test is also being dropped.
Instead, the rules will revert to the system in place in October, with travellers required to take a lateral flow test no later than the end of day two after their arrival.
In Wales, health minister Eluned Morgan said they would be "reluctantly" following suit.
The measures were originally introduced following the identification of the fast-spreading Omicron variant in South Africa last November.
Mr Johnson told the House: "When the Omicron variant was first identified, we rightly introduced travel restrictions to slow its arrival in our country.
"But now Omicron is so prevalent, these measures are having limited impact on the growth in cases, while continuing to pose significant costs on our travel industry.
"So I can announce that in England from 4am on Friday, we will be scrapping the pre-departure test, which discourages many from travelling for fear of being trapped overseas and incurring significant extra expense."
The announcement - which covers those passengers who are fully vaccinated Or are under the age of 18 - was broadly welcomed by the travel industry, which has been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of the industry body Airlines UK, said it would be a "massive boost" for the sector at a "critical" time of the year.
"People will now be able to book knowing that - for the fully vaccinated - all emergency testing restrictions have been removed," he said.
"Today marks an important step towards learning to live alongside the virus, helping passengers and the travel sector look ahead to what will be an all-important spring and summer season."
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren also welcomed the move but said the Government needed to go further.
"This will make travel much simpler and easier and means our customers can book and travel with confidence," he said.
"However, the Government must now urgently take the final step towards restriction-free travel and remove the last remaining unnecessary test for vaccinated travellers so flying does not become the preserve of the rich."
A spokesman for Heathrow Airport said: "Although this is welcome news, there is still a long way back for aviation which remains the lifeblood of the UK's economy, supporting millions of jobs in all four nations."
In further easing, coronavirus self-isolation rules in Scotland are to be cut from 10 to seven days, Scotland's leader Nicola Sturgeon has announced, bringing the nation broadly in line with the rest of the United Kingdom.
Scotland's first minister had faced pressure from opposition parties to make the change, which applies as long as people test negative on days six and seven of isolation.
The change was announced as Sturgeon confirmed 16,103 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Scotland in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile around one in 15 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to December 31, according to new estimates from the Office for National Statistics.
Johnson has accepted the weeks ahead are going to be "challenging" and said "some services will be disrupted by staff absences" as he pledged to "fortify" the NHS to withstand the pressures and protect supply chains.
Under the measures, he said 100,000 "critical workers" including those in transport, policing and food distribution will get lateral flow tests on every working day starting on Monday.
The Prime Minister told a press conference: "I would say we have a good chance of getting through the Omicron wave without the need for further restrictions and without the need certainly for a lockdown."
But he accepted the NHS was moving to a "war footing" as he acknowledged the health service is under "huge pressure" while hospital admissions are "high".
