ONE in 50 people currently has coronavirus in England - after the UK recorded its largest-ever rise in coronavirus cases today (Tuesday). 

But over a quarter of all people over 80 have now received the first doses of the vaccine, the Prime Minister has confirmed. 

At today's press conference, Boris Johnson said 1.1 million people have now been vaccinated in England, and 1.3 million across the UK.

"That includes more than 650,000 people over 80 which is 23 per cent of all the over the 80s in England," he said. 

That means nearly one-in-four of the most vulnerable will have significant protection in two to three weeks' time, he says.

The prime minister says by next week there should be almost 1,000 vaccination sites across the country.

The news comes after the UK recorded a further 60,000 coronavirus cases and 830 deaths in the last 24 hours. 

And Mr Johnson said an estimated 1 in 50 people in private households in England had covid-19 between December 27 and January 2, the Office of National Statistics said. 

Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty said case rates have increased by 70 per cent in the UK in the two weeks to 30 December.

Problems with the new variant, combined with the worst period of winter, led to a "significant increase" in the number of people testing positive for the virus in December, he said. 

He said areas which had previously had lower rates, the North East and North West, are now seeing faster rates of increasing infection.

On a separate question about the new variant, Chris Whitty said the threat at the moment is "extraordinarily high" if people do not adhere to the lockdown rules.

He said vaccinations will reduce the risk going forward but only "by degrees" and the restrictions will not disappear in a "single bound".

Some curbs may be needed next winter, Mr Whitty added.

He said: "It will be up to the government to decide what level of risk is tolerable going forward."