Problems with the availability of tests for Covid-19 have undermined Boris Johnson's plea for "cautious" new year celebrations in England.
The number of new Covid-19 cases in the UK increased by more than 180,000 on Wednesday, which made the issue more acute.
The figures are likely to be inflated because people in Northern Ireland and Scotland delay their tests until after Christmas Day. The number of coronaviruses reported in London was down 20 per cent week on week.
As of Wednesday morning, 10,462 people were in hospital in England with Covid, according to the latest data from the National Health Service England.
The number is 48 per cent higher than a week earlier. The number peaked at 34,336 on January 18 this year. There were a record high of covid cases in England on Tuesday.
Sir Roger Gale, a Conservative Member of Parliament for North Thanet, wrote on his official account that Kent appears to be in a situation of lateral flow and PCR test gridlock.
After talking to Sajid Javid, the health secretary, he was told that there was a world shortage of test supplies, but they were buying all of them.
There are no home delivery slots left for the lateral flow tests and there are no available slots for the PCR.
Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, told the Financial Times that the communication and messaging is not consistent and that creates a chaotic situation.
Andrew Lane, chair of the National Pharmacy Association, said that there was a shortage of supplies within two hours.
The UK Health Security Agency said that they were delivering record numbers of tests to the pharmacy and that almost 8 million test kits would be made available to the pharmacy between today and New Year's Eve.
Since mid-December, it has made 100,000 more booking slots available.
The director of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee said that deliveries from the UKHSA's wholesaler had been exhausted after being paused over the Christmas break.
The majority of people in intensive care units with Covid had not received a booster shot, and the Omicron variant continued to pose real problems.
The prime minister urged people in England to get booster jabs and said hospitals were under pressure even though Omicron was milder than the Delta variant.
Johnson did not introduce new legal restrictions to stop the spread of Omicron in England, but he urged people to celebrate with caution.
There is a debate about whether England should follow the US and cut the period of Covid isolation from seven to a minimum of five days.
The minister for health said that the isolation period had just been cut from 10 to seven days and there were no plans to change that further.
The vaccine booster campaign is the main means of protecting people.
He said that the majority of people who end up in intensive care are people who are not boosted.
Doctors say the number of people in intensive care is running up to 90 percent. Government sources said anecdotal evidence from some trusts led to the figure.
The new year period has seen tougher restrictions imposed in other parts of the UK. Scots should not travel to England on December 31 for parties.
