The UK’s chief medical officers have called for the country to be moved into Covid-19 Alert Level 5 for the first time, which means the NHS is at “material risk” of being overwhelmed.

My colleague Kate Ng reports:

The UK has recorded 58,784 new coronavirus cases, in the seventh consecutive day that there have been more than 50,000 daily cases.

Here’s our report on those figures:

The UK has recorded 58,784 new coronavirus cases, in the seventh consecutive day that there have been more than 50,000 daily cases.

This means today’s is officially the highest daily total since the start of the pandemic, and that some 2,713,563 people have now tested positive for Covid in the UK.

Government figures also show there have been 407 more deaths in the past 24 hours.

The latest numbers compare to the 54,990 coronavirus infections and 454 deaths recorded on Sunday.

The latest stats for England’s worst-infected Covid areas are in…

Of the 315 local areas in England, 292 (93 per cent) have seen a rise in case rates, 22 (7 per cent) have seen a fall, and one is unchanged.

Barking & Dagenham in London continues to have the highest rate in England, with 3,143 new cases recorded in the seven days to 31 December – the equivalent of 1,476.2 cases per 100,000 people.

This is up from 1,106.1 in the seven days to Christmas Eve.

Thurrock in Essex has the second highest rate, up slightly from 1,371.5 to 1,389.2, with 2,422 new cases.

Redbridge in London is in third place, rising from 1,177.5 to 1,381.9 with 4,218 new cases.

The areas recording the biggest week-on-week jumps are Carlisle (up from 361.6 to 847.5 with 921 new cases); Rushmoor in Hampshire (up from 677.6 to 1,125.8 with 1,065 new cases); and the Isle of Wight (up from 229.9 to 677.1, with 960 new cases).

Additional reporting by PA

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said a national lockdown “must” be introduced “now”, which, he admitted, “tragically means school closures”.

Sixty-four sides will take part in this weekend’s FA Cup ties, and – under guidelines set out by the governing body – all must be tested 72 hours before their respective matches.

With weekly testing not in place for Football League and non-league teams, many of whom have suffered match postponements over the Christmas period, there are concerns that the third-round schedule will be massively impacted.

My colleague Vincent Wood reports the following:

Lockdown or no lockdown, London Zoo plans to close tomorrow in a move designed to protect staff following surging numbers of coronavirus cases in the capital.

Before Boris Johnson’s 8pm briefing was announced senior officials at the Zoological Society of London had already decided to only open the world’s oldest scientific zoo on weekends in a bid to reduce staffing and protect key employees who will continue to care for its animals.

It comes a day after a briefing from the Labour Party highlighted zoos as one of the businesses that were still permitted to stay open under tier 4 lockdown restrictions despite high virus prevalence across the UK.

Scotland is to consider calls for teachers to receive fast-tracked coronavirus vaccines, Nicola Sturgeon has announced, though she stressed it would be “unethical” not to prioritise those most at risk of dying from Covid.

Scotland’s first minister said the government would look at how to “accelerate” the vaccination of teachers and school staff as part of efforts to safely reopen schools. She also confirmed on Monday that schools in Scotland will remain closed until at least the start of February, with in-person teaching replaced by online learning.

Children who are most vulnerable and whose parents are classed as key workers will still be able to attend schools.

Ms Sturgeon said she wants school staff “vaccinated as quickly as possible”, but not at the expense of those deemed clinically most at risk from the virus.

Announcing a new lockdown to the Scottish Parliament, she said: “We are considering whether and to what extent – consistent with our overall duty to vaccinate the most vulnerable first in line with JCVI recommendations – we can achieve vaccination of school and childcare staff as a priority”.

Jane Peckham, from the NASUWT teaching union in Scotland, said today: “We welcome the first minister’s commitment to look at prioritising school staff for vaccination.

“The NASUWT believes that vaccination of teachers and other staff must be introduced as a central pillar of ensuring the safe operation of schools during the pandemic.

“Prioritising the vaccination of school staff will support the shared aim of restoring in-person teaching for pupils as soon as this can safely be achieved.”