UK Covid cases break another record with 60,916 in 24 hours and 830 deaths

Tuesday marks eighth consecutive day of more than 50,000 new daily cases in UK

Ambulances forced to wait outside the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel causing long delays in getting to patients (PA)

UK coronavirus cases have reached another record daily high with 60,916 new infections in the past 24 hours.  

It marks the eighth consecutive day that there have been more than 50,000 new cases in a 24-hour period across Britain.  

There have also been 830 more deaths, according to official government figures.  

The latest figures bring the UK’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 2,774,479, while the death toll has now reached 82,624.  

Of the new cases, 307,806 were recorded in England, with 13,534 in Scotland, 15,488 in Wales and 10,073 in Northern Ireland.

Prime minister Boris Johnson held a No 10 press conference with England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and the government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance at 5pm, in which they warned that coronavirus poses an "extraordinarily high" risk and urged people to take the stay at home rules seriously.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics also showed that one in 50 people in private households in England had contracted coronavirus between 27 December and 2 January - equivalent to 1.1 million people.

Mr Johnson on Monday announced England would enter its third national shutdown on 6 January to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed amid surging infections.  

The UK’s Covid-19 alert level was also raised to Level 5 - the highest setting.