Covid-19 infections continued to surge by a fifth last week with 2.7 million Brits now thought to be infected.
Random swab testing by the Office for National Statistics shows one in 25 people have the virus in England, one in 20 in Wales and one in 17 in Scotland.
Total cases in the UK are estimated to be up 18% from 2.3 million the previous week.
People in hospital in England who have tested positive for Covid-19 stood at 11,878 on July 7, up 33% week-on-week.
The majority of people in hospital who test positive for Covid-19 are being primarily treated for something else rather than the virus.
However these patients take up greater NHS capacity as they still need to be isolated from patients who tested negative.
Leading statistician Dr David Spiegelhalter said that hospital admissions were “rising steeping and they are nearly at the level of previous peaks this year”.
But he added: “I think there are some indications that they may be topping off.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) this week, Europe is at the centre of the resurgence in Covid-19 infections as more people mix at large-scale events and travel.
The Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation will decide in the next fortnight who is eligible for an autumn booster jab.
Its interim advice was that over-65s should get it but there has been speculation eligibility could be extended to all over-50s.
