The health secretary, Sajid Javid, is to hold a Covid briefing at Downing Street this afternoon as UK cases surge.
The press conference, the first to be held in more than a month, will take place at 5pm on Wednesday in the Downing Street press briefing room.
Mr Javid will discuss the use of new antiviral drugs to help treat Covid-19 but is also likely to be asked about the country’s worsening Covid cases figures.
On Tuesday, the government said a further 223 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 – bringing the UK total to 138,852.
While the numbers are often higher on Tuesdays because of a lag in reporting deaths and cases over the weekend, this is the highest figure for daily reported deaths since 9 March.
Meanwhile, the seven-day average for cases is standing at 44,145 cases per day – the highest level for almost three months.
Southwest England has recorded its highest rate of new Covid-19 cases since comparable figures began in summer 2020, when mass testing was first introduced across the UK.
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Ministers are coming under pressure to bring back some Covid restrictions, with one NHS leader saying without them the country risks “stumbling into a winter crisis“.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, urged the government to implement the back-up strategy which involves measures including bringing back mandatory face coverings in public places.
Downing Street said it was keeping a ”very close eye“ on rising case rates, but added the Prime Minister has ”absolutely no plan to introduce Plan B“, which could also involve introducing vaccine passports for nightclub entry.
*The announcement will be broadcast on the BBC News channel and the 10 Downing Street YouTube channel.
