England has seen a record-breaking number of new hospital admissions for coronavirus patients for the third day running.

A total of 3,587 admissionswere reported for January 4, passing the previous record of 3,351 on January 3, NHS England figures reveal. January 2 was the previous high, with 3,145 – more than 400 less than the figure for Monday.

During the first wave of the virus, admissions peaked at 3,099, on April 1, 2020.

The number comprises all patients admitted in the previous 24 hours who were known to have Covid-19, plus any patients diagnosed in hospital with Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours. But it does not include hospitalisations in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

The number comprises all patients admitted in the previous 24 hours who were known to have Covid-19, plus any patients diagnosed in hospital with Covid-19 in the previous 24 hours.

It comes as a leading professor told Metro.co.uk that new admissions could soon exceed 5,000 per day, overwhelming an NHS already creaking under the strain of a huge surge in infections.

On Wednesday, the UK reported a record number of confirmed cases, with 62,322.

The impact of those cases – and many of the hundreds of thousands from recent days – is yet to translate into new admissions, but hospitalisations of some of those patients are already ‘baked in’ regardless of England’s new lockdown.

Meanwhile, in Wales, the country’s NHS chief executive has warned that the number of hospitalised coronavirus patients could soon be double that seen during the first wave of the pandemic.

Dr Andrew Goodall said Wales’s health system was under ‘immense pressure’, with its critical care units operating at 140% of normal capacity and two health boards dedicating almost half their beds to patients with the virus.

Almost 2,800 people are in Welsh hospitals with Covid-19-related illness, representing an increase of four per cent in just a week and the highest number on record following a surge in transmissions over the last fortnight.

On Wednesday, Dr Goodall told the Welsh Government’s press briefing: ‘If this trend continues, very soon the number of coronavirus-related patients in hospital will be twice the peak we saw during the first wave in April.

‘More than a third of hospital beds are occupied by Covid-related patients. This varies across Wales and is close to 50% in two health boards. This has a significant impact on their ability to deliver local services.’

This is a breaking story – more to follow.

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