The UK registered a record-breaking 106,122 new COVID-19 infections in 24 hours ahead of the holidays.
It was the first time the country reported more than 100,000 daily infections.
Infections have risen nearly 60% in the past week compared to week before, UK authorities said.
England's chief medical officer Dr Chris Whitty had warned that the highly transmissible Omicron variant was likely to bring record-breaking infection numbers.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has so far refused to impose new
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