As-it-happened: Hospitals under 'extreme pressure' as virus surges, NHS trusts say - BBC News
Staff absences and the new Covid variant are creating a "challenging situation", NHS Providers warn.
Much of England has been placed in a new top tier of restrictions - tier four - as the new variant spreads Image caption: Much of England has been placed in a new top tier of restrictions - tier four - as the new variant spreads

Earlier we reported that a study by Imperial College had concluded the new coronavirus variant is "hugely" more transmissible. Now some experts are saying that means even tougher restrictions will soon be needed.

Prof Jim Naismith, of Oxford University, said: "The data from Imperial represent the best analysis to date and imply that the measures we have employed to date, would - with the new virus - fail to reduce the R number to below 1.

"In simpler terms, unless we do something different the new virus strain is going to continue to spread - more infections, more hospitalisations and more deaths."

The R number is the average number of people an infected person passes the virus onto. If it is above 1 the epidemic is growing.

Early data suggested that the virus was spreading more quickly among the under-20s, particularly among secondary school age children, but the latest results indicate that it is more infectious in all age groups.

Prof Axel Gandy, part of the research team, suggested that it may have appeared to spread more easily among school children simply because the early data was collected during the November lockdown, when adults' movements were restricted but schools remained open.