NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson warned that services were still at “full stretch” and cautioned against relaxing lockdown measures too early.

England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said on Wednesday that the country was past the peak of the current wave.

But Mr Hopson said “the NHS has barely crested the peak”, with 40 per cent more Covid patients in hospital than at the height of the first wave in April 2020.

“The NHS is currently running at 170 per cent of last year’s ICU (intensive care unit) capacity and trusts were still having to create new extra ICU surge capacity last week,” he said.

“The ICU numbers are coming down very slowly. Hospital, community, ambulance and mental health services are still at full stretch.”

He warned it would take months, rather than days or weeks, for pressure on the NHS to subside, and added: “We saw last year what happened when we released restrictions on social contact too quickly.”

An autistic teenager aims to send 5,000 thank you cards to healthcare workers as a coping mechanism for his severe anxiety over the coronavirus pandemic.

Sixteen-year-old Patrick Joyce from Glasgow has sent 600 cards so far since mid-January and has received many responses, including from former Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Patrick’s mother, Indra Joyce, said he had suffered severe anxiety as a result of the pandemic, but his mental health had been “transformed” by writing the letters. 

The mother of a teenager who filmed himself shouting abuse at Professor Chris Whitty has taken her son’s PlayStation away, saying she was “horrified” by his actions.

She said she had not raised her son to speak that way and was left “feeling very stressed and anxious” by the video.

“I have taken away his PlayStation, which is the thing he loves the most. I have not grounded him because he is already suffering enough from the lockdown and does not go out as much as he used to,” she told MailOnline.

She said the teenager “wanted to draw attention to the suffering of teenagers, which has largely been overlooked by the government” but the manner in which he did so left her “very upset and angry with him”.

Fewer black and minority ethnic NHS staff are coming forward to get coronavirus vaccines, sparking fears for the NHS workforce most at risk from the virus.

At some hospitals only one-quarter of black members of staff have so far had the vaccine compared to more than half of white staff. The Royal Free Trust, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust have all reported such figures.

One obstacle for ethnic minority NHS staff may involve their ability to get vaccinated at short notice. The majority of ethnic minority staff work on more frontline, less senior roles, meaning some may have missed email invitations to receive the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.

Daniel Waldron, director of workforce at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, told the trust board: “Black-African and black-Caribbean staff are showing more vaccine hesitancy. The numbers are quite dramatically different. Filipino staff are actually the lowest group [in terms of uptake].”

A further 915 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Thursday, bringing the UK total to 110,250, according to the latest government figures.

The government also said there had been a further 20,634 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 3,892,459.

Matt Hancock would not confirm that details of the government’s hotel quarantine plan would be set out next week.

Asked if there would be an announcement next week, he told reporters: “Of course we’re working at pace to further strengthen the measures at the border but we’ve already put in place for isolation for everybody who arrives, wherever they come from in the world.”

Mr Hancock said he discussed the issue with Australian ministers earlier today because they already have “quarantine hotels”.

“We have been working to make sure that we get this right,” he said.

Mr Hancock insisted “there isn’t a delay, what there is is work to make sure that the border is always as secure as it needs to be”.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK remained on track to complete the vaccination of the top four priority groups by 15 February, with one in five of all adults now having received the jab.

“We are on track to deliver the commitment we have made of offering the jab to all of the top four priority groups by 15 February,” he told reporters.

“I’m just so proud of the team who are delivering this, it’s going really, really well.

“You saw yesterday 10 million jabs done. Today we passed the threshold of one in five of the population who have been jabbed already.”

Covid-19 case rates are continuing to fall in all regions of England, according to the latest weekly surveillance report from Public Health England.

In the West Midlands, the rate of new cases stood at 319.9 per 100,000 people in the seven days to January 31 – the highest rate of any region, but down from 427.5 in the previous week.

North-west England recorded the second highest rate: 281.1, down from 379.9.

South-west England recorded the lowest rate: 172.9, down from 237.4.

Nadhim Zahawi said the UK’s approach to its dosing regime will not change in the immediate future, despite a new trial looking at a “mix and match” approach.

In a statement, the vaccine minister told the Commons: “Today I’m pleased to announce another clinical trial, a world-first study that will help cement the UK’s position as a global hub for vaccination research.

“This trial will look at whether different vaccines can be safely used for a two-dose regime in the future to support a more flexible programme of immunisation.

“I want to just reinforce that this is a year-long study and there are no current plans to change our existing vaccine programme, which will continue to use the same doses.

“But it will perform a vital role, helping the world understand whether different vaccines can be safely used.

“Our scientists have played a pivotal part in our response to this deadly virus and once again they are leading the way, helping us to learn more about this virus and how we should respond.”

Former minister Mark Harper, who chairs the Tory lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group, pressed the government to say when Britons can get back to “living as normal”.

He told the Commons: “I’m very pleased the government has agreed that once the first four cohorts have their vaccine and it becomes effective from 8 March we can start unlocking the economy.

“Does the minister agree with me that once the first nine groups have been vaccinated – accounting for 99 per cent of deaths and about 80 per cent of hospitalisations – that will be the right time for all restrictions to be relaxed so that we can get back to living as normal, get our children back to school and the economy fully open?”

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said early March is when “protection really kicks in” for those vaccinated in mid-February, adding: “8 March is the plan to reopen schools and then gradually reopen the economy.”

He added it is “important to wait for the evidence”, with research ongoing to see the impact of the vaccines on infection rates and transmission.

Mr Zahawi went on: “We’re getting some really positive data from Israel and the Oxford team.”