There are now more patients in hospital with coronavirus in England than during the peak of the second wave in November, just less than a week before the government will lift restrictions for Christmas.

According to the latest data for hospitals in England, shared with The Independent, there were 15,698 patients in hospital with Covid-19 on Thursday morning.

The November peak, during the second national lockdown, saw 14,467 patients in hospital.

It comes amid mounting criticism of ministers’ plan to ease restrictions over Christmas, with warnings the move could cost many lives and lead to widespread cancellations of NHS operations.

In London hospitals are already having to cancel operations and redeploy staff after the number of Covid patients in critical care jumped 8.6 per cent in a single day.

The latest surveillance report from Public Health England revealed the rate of infections was rising in every region bar Yorkshire in the past week. London reported the sharpest increase.

The steep rise in cases in the southeast and London has been linked to a new variant of the virus but it is not yet clear what, if any, effect that is having.

Senior NHS leaders have warned the government the health service could be overwhelmed in January if there is a spike in infections after Christmas, which will come on top of the 15,000 patients already taking up beds.

It could mean widespread disruption to hospital services.

On Thursday Matt Hancock said more areas of England would be put into the highest tier of restrictions from Saturday, including Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and parts of Surrey and East Sussex. Bristol and North Somerset will move down into tier 2 with Herefordshire going into tier 1, the health secretary said.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “A knock-on impact of relaxing the rules appears increasingly likely, with health leaders now expressing growing fears about the effect on the number of people needing care because of Covid-19, and also on non-Covid services, especially as January is already expected to be an extremely challenging time.

“Those working in the NHS have demonstrated resilience, fortitude and dedication beyond measure throughout the pandemic, and will continue to be there for patients, including delivering the Covid-19 immunisation programme, with more than 200 sites now open.

“But if the health service, and the country, are to avoid being haunted by the ghost of Christmas past, decisive action is now needed to keep people safe and prevent the hardest winter the NHS will have experienced in its more than 70-year history.”

Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said the union wanted ministers to warn people of the risks of Christmas which she said could lead to an “unrelenting tsunami” of cases.

She said: “With a week to go until Christmas and the virus spreading rapidly in many parts of the country, ministers should give fresh and more detailed advice to the public.

“After a difficult year, it is everybody’s instinct to want to be together and see loved ones – especially those who live far apart or feel isolated. But what is at stake is coming into sharp focus.

“By turning the second and third waves into an unrelenting tsunami, we would begin 2021 in the worst possible way. Nursing staff are telling me they will not enjoy Christmas knowing what awaits them in January. “