Coronavirus news: England hospital admissions up nearly one-quarter in a day, as MPs back 'rule of six'

The number of people admitted to English hospitals with coronavirus leapt by nearly one-quarter from Saturday to Sunday, government figures revealed.

There were 478 admissions on Sunday, the most recent day for which figures have been provided, up from 386 the day before.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has won a Commons vote on the “rule of six”, despite anger at the government’s ability to bypass parliamentary scrutiny during the pandemic. MPs voted in favour by 287 votes to 17 – but 12 Tories rebelled and voted against the regulation.

Growing frustration with restrictions on freedom comes at a time when some experts are warning those crackdowns may have to become more stringent.

Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Professor John Edmunds said a return to national lockdown should come sooner rather than later.

The Sage adviser said: "We are starting to get to a point where we really will have to take really critical action otherwise we are going to run the risk of turning the National Health Service back into the national Covid service.

"These local restrictions that have been put in place in much of the north of England really haven't been very effective. We need to take much more stringent measures, not just in the north of England, we need to do it countrywide, and bring the epidemic back under control."

He was speaking after it became likely that new a local lockdown would be imposed in Nottingham, where the director of public health described a spike in cases as “significant and worrying”.

In the US, Donald Trump has continued to downplay the dangers of Covid-19, despite contracting it himself. He also called an abrupt halt to negotiations with Democrats on badly-needed new economic stimulus.