More than 50,000 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours that yet another record for the UK ONDA matter off extreme concern, according to Public Health England.

The head of the NHS in England says that health workers air once again in the eye of the storm, while the leading scientific adviser to the U.

K government says urgent action is now needed to prevent what he called a catastrophe in the new year.

Any changes to England's tear restrictions will be announced tomorrow.

Our health correspondent Catherine Burns has the latest.

We all wanted to have a few days off over Christmas, but instead of being asked to come back to work this time, it's a weird.

This time we've seen ah massive increase.

If we continue with the current rate of admissions, we are very, very close to becoming overwhelmed.

So it is affecting anyone and everyone.

People are just beginning to be exhausted.

It's been such a long year.

Doctors and nurses from the NHS frontline telling us what it's like dealing with a pandemic that after months and months of hard work is getting worse.

Queens Hospital in Rome for today.

20 ambulances waiting outside, some on double yellow lines because the parking bays are all full.

At one stage, you can see staff bringing hot drinks out to patients waiting in the ambulances.

The hospital says they were being cared for safely, but that it's under considerable pressure and is asking staff to take extra shifts.

It's a similar picture across London and the south east of England.

I'd say this is the most challenging extended period that I've ever seen, and I'd like to just take the opportunity toe pay tribute to the staff who have worked phenomenally hard and well.

More than 21,000 people are being treated in hospital for covert across the UK In Wales.

They're dealing with their highest level of patients Now.

The patients who are coming to eat you now are a degrees sicker.

A lot of them are desperately unwell.

We've seen a really reflection of that in the amount of patients that have died in Northern Ireland.

Hospitals say they are under pressure but coping, and in Scotland people are being asked to stay at home over New Year as cases hit a record high.

This new surgeon cases couldn't come at a worst time of year.

For the NHS.

Winter always brings extra pressures with more respiratory illnesses as well as slips, trips and falls in icy weather this year.

On top of that on the pandemic, social distancing means hospitals need to keep patients further apart on the NHS.

In England is operating with around 10% fewer beds than usual.

In England, 24 million people are already living under tier for restrictions, the highest level.

The government is about to decide if that's enough on this warning from a scientific adviser act now to avoid catastrophe in the new year.

In my view, if we don't introduce tougher restrictions in areas in the north and areas that are not currently in Tier four, they will rise to very high levels of disease.

On hospitalization similar to those seen in London theme NHS chief executives annual Thank you message to staff acknowledges that this year has been the toughest that most can remember.

But there's hope to by late spring we think that with vaccine supply continuing to come on stream, we will have been able to offer Alvar honorable people across this country this code of vaccination.

Three weeks ago, Margaret Keane and became the first person to have a covert vaccine outside of clinical trials.

Today she's had her second booster dose a really piece of good news.

But now million's Mawr need to be vaccinated to Catherine Burns, BBC News.

Well 1.5 1000 military personnel out to help with the rollout off mass Corona virus testing in schools in England next month.

They will hold online advice sessions on give telephone guidance to staff, with Children mostly carrying out the test themselves.

But teaching unions say the schools have not been given enough time to make plans on some head, teachers are calling for the government to delay the start of term.

Our political correspondent Damien Gramatica's has the story empty classrooms now, but will it be safe if millions of Children start filling them next week?

Or could thes become incubators for the newme, or infectious strain of co vid 19?

The current plan is for a staggered return, with mass testing of secondary pupils and staff in many cases, Children themselves carrying out the tests under supervision.

It's not going to be easy.

It will be difficult.

We are in a national emergency.

But it will make a huge difference to teachers on Children and, hopefully mean that schools will remain open.

The government wants Children back home.

Schooling for many isn't viable, lacking the support in the space, the computers and ipads to make it work.

But scientists, unions and head teachers are all urging a delay.

Just please go on for for now.

The idea is that the military have already been running.

Testing will help not in schools but remotely giving guidance online or over the phone on the plan.

Envisages less than one soldier per school.

Wear educationists.

We can support the government.

It's good we're gonna have some members of the Army.

But for 3.5 1000 secondary schools, 1500 troops doing webinars probably isn't the government response that we were looking for in some parts of the UK.

The returned to school is already happening later in England and Northern Ireland.

Children are due to start next week in Wales.

Most should be back by the 11th of January in Scotland.

It won't be before the 18th.

Many head teachers want more time to prepare.

Things have just come through to schools very light, and I think it's It certainly led to a lot of stress and a lot of panic over the Christmas holidays to try to get people recruited.

Our community have been excellent since we've had, um, press coverage.

Ince's we've We've talked to our community.

We've had some volunteers, but we still got nowhere near enough.

Schools have a stepped up right away from March delivering online learning, turning things at the turn of a coin.

We're very used to being adaptable.

We really want this to work, but we don't know where we're going to get the volunteers from.

If there is a delay, primary schools and Children of key workers may not be affected, but in secondaries it might mean online learning or even an extension to the holidays for a week or two.

Then those taking exams back First announcement could come as soon as tomorrow.

Damon Gramatica's BBC News Well, let's take a look.

Then, at the latest government figures on, they showed that there were 53,135 new infections recorded in the latest 24 hours.

But not all of the four nations reported the full set of data over the Christmas period.

The average number of new cases reported per day in the past week is now 38,000 936 414 deaths were reported.

Thus, people who died within 28 days off a positive covert test means on average.

In the past week, 466 deaths were announced every day, and it takes the total number of deaths so far across the UK to 71,567.

And with me is our health correspondent, Catherine Burns, whose report we saw a little earlier.

So we have this record number off infections today.

Catherine Gund tomorrow, of course, were looking ahead to the announcement on tears in England and possible changes there.

So where do we stand?

Do you think?

Well, let's start with those numbers.

Those number of people testing positive 53 0.

I mean, there was like you said there was a bit of a lag over Christmas, with some nations not reporting.

Their data is quickly, but let's be very clear about this public health.

England says this is a really increase on its off extreme concern.

There are some things that we just don't actually have an accurate picture of.

Right now, for example, how many people are being treated in hospital for covert?

So the latest figures we've got just over 21,000.

They're a week old now, and at that point we were just a few 100 cases shy of reaching the level we got to it, the peak back in April.

Now, since then, England's had an extra 2000 cases, so it's pretty reasonable to expect that we have now broken that record.

We've gone past that peak, which obviously is another record that nobody wanted to break.

So where does all this levers?

Well, we know the government has Boris Johnson.

He chaired a meeting tonight looking at the tier system in England.

And we're expecting an update from the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock tomorrow.

So right now we've got about 40% of the population in England in tier for the highest level of restrictions on some people are questioning.

Is this gonna be high enough?

Another thing I think we should look out for tomorrow is areas where there are really high numbers of people testing positive, but it's still only in tears two or three.

So an example of that is Eden in Cumbria.

It's having about 500 cases for every 100,000 people right now.

And to give you some context, the UK average is more like 400.

But really, for all of us, no matter what hearing what level of restrictions we're looking at right now, it's time to go back to the basics.

Stick to the rules for the area that we're in on.

Go back to those basics washing hands, social distancing, wearing masks, everything to give us a fighting chance to get these infections down.

Catherine Once again, Many thanks Catherine Burns have correspondent.