The figure for the week ending 31 December was up from 2.3 million in the week to 23 December. It marked the highest number since comparable figures began in autumn 2020.

According to the latest ONS infection survey, an estimated one in 15 people in England had COVID in the week up to 31 December.

This is the equivalent to 3,270,800 people.

In Scotland and Wales, an estimated one in 20 people had the virus.

An estimated one in 25 people had coronavirus in Northern Ireland.

It comes as a record number of daily COVID cases - more than 218,000 - were recorded in the UK on Tuesday, with the highly transmissible Omicron now the dominant strain in the country.

However the reporting of some of those cases had been delayed due to a lag over the festive period.

Boris Johnson has led a Cabinet meeting where he recommended sticking with England's Plan B despite record infection numbers and rising pressure on hospitals.