THERE are more people in East Lancashire's hospitals with coronavirus now than there were during the peak of the first wave in April.

NHS England data shows 300 people were being treated for Covid-19 at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust by 8am on January 12.

That was a rise of 63 per cent compared to the peak of 184 reported during April last year.

Across England, 32,200 patients were in hospital with the virus on Tuesday morning – a record number, and 70 per cent more than the first-wave peak of 19,000.

Of those, 3,200 were on mechanical ventilation beds.

Mr Johnson told MPs: "If you ask me when do we think that the ICU capacity is likely to be overtopped, I can’t give you a prediction for that.

"But all I can say is that the risk is very substantial, and we have to keep the pressure off the NHS and the only way to do that is to follow the current lockdown."

Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director for Public Health England, said the rate at which people are being admitted to hospital is now higher than at any point during the pandemic.

"We are still seeing thousands of people having to go to hospital each day," she said.

"Worryingly, these numbers are likely to get worse before we see the benefits of our efforts to protect the NHS, which will mean more pressure for our health service than ever before."

Separate monthly figures from the NHS give an insight into the ages of patients admitted at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust.

In the seven days to January 6, 47 of the 112 Covid admissions were of people aged between 18 and 64 – 46 more than the total number in that age group admitted during the whole of April last year.