Professor Chris Whitty warned that some restrictions may have to be brought back next winter to control the virus.

He said: “If we did not do all the things all of us must now do, if people don’t take the stay at home seriously, the risk at this point in time, in the middle of winter with this new variant, is extraordinarily high.”

He said the risk level will gradually decrease over time with measures being “lifted by degrees possibly at different rates in different parts of the country, we’ll have to see”.

“We’ll then get over time to a point where people say this level of risk is something society is prepared to tolerate and lift right down to almost no restrictions at all,” he added.

“We might have to bring in a few in next winter for example, that’s possible, because winter will benefit the virus.”

Boris Johnson maintained an optimistic view, saying that there is a “prospect” the current coronavirus lockdown may be eased in mid-February.

“When a very considerable proportion of the most vulnerable groups have been vaccinated … then there really is the prospect of beginning the relaxation of some of these measures.

“But you will also appreciate there are a lot of caveats, a lot of ifs built into that, the most important of which is that we all now follow the guidance.”

The prime minister has confirmed that the government will bring in measures to test visitors entering the UK to “prevent the virus being readmitted”.

Many countries across the world already require negative Covid tests from travellers no more than 72 hours before their flight departs from the location they are departing from.

Boris Johnson said the government “will be bringing in measures to ensure that we test people coming into this country and prevent the virus being readmitted”.

Professor Chris Whitty told the Downing Street press conference, citing ONS estimate, that the second lockdown brought down coronavirus infection rates.

“But then we had the problems with the new variant and the worst period of winter combining to lead to a significant increase since that time,” he continued.

“And we’re not into a situation where, across the country as a whole, roughly one in 50 people have got the virus.

“One in 50 is really quite a large number indeed,” he said, referring to today’s ONS figures.

Boris Johnson has pledged to provide daily updates on the vaccination programme from Monday 11 January, following pressure from charities and Labour.

Boris Johnson has said that 1.3 million people have now received a Covid-19 vaccine, with 1.1 million of these in England.

The prime minister said in his televised briefing today that nearly one in four of those aged over 80 in England have received their first dose of the vaccine.

The Office for National Statistics has said that an estimated one in 50 people in private households in England had Covid-19 between 27 December and 2 January, equivalent to around 2.06 per cent of the population or 1.1 million people.

It represents a rise from 800,900 people, or one in 70, who were estimated to have the virus in the period from 17 to 23 December.

The figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings.

Many patients with long Covid have been unable to return properly to work six months after infection, a study suggests.

Researchers from the Patient-Led Research for Covid-19 conducted a survey of more than 3,700 long Covid patients from 56 different countries, with many reporting symptoms such as debilitating fatigue and so-called “brain fog’, among others.

Ella Pickover has the details:

Yvonne Doyle, medical director for Public Health England, has said of the new number of daily infections: “The rapid rise in cases is highly concerning and will sadly mean yet more pressure on our health services in the depths of winter.

“That is why if we can, we must stay at home, reduce contacts and do everything possible to break the spread of this virus.

“It is by no means easy, but now more than ever we must all do our part to protect the NHS and save lives.”

The UK has broken another record for the number of daily coronavirus infections within 24 hours, with 60,916 new cases and 830 deaths.

My colleague Chiara Giordano reports:

Ministers are facing calls to release daily vaccination figures and breakdowns of how many jabs have been administered to the most vulnerable people.

It comes after Boris Johnson vowed to inoculate everyone in the UK’s top four “priority” groups by mid-February. The pledge covers around 13 million vulnerable people in Britain – including care home residents and staff, frontline health workers and over 70s.