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Cases: 8,734,934 (up 44,985) Deaths: 139,461 (up 135)

Cases: 243,960,180 (up 245,616) Deaths: 4,956,588 (up 3,530)

supported strategies. Chris Whitty stood alongside Boris Johnson and supported the July 19 strategy of removing restrictions very prematurely. This has led to 10,000 deaths between July 19 and now – and we’re going to have at least 8,000 more before Christmas unless we slow down.”

The Government is under pressure to implement its Plan B contingency strategy, which would see measures introduced to cut the rise in cases.

Last night, a Whitehall insider said: “There is panic on at the moment. The Government is doing all it can to mitigate this without causing any major problems. They’re keen to make sure Christmas goes smoothly as there are a lot of reputations at stake.”

Meanwhile, an Independent Sage adviser accused the Government of “wilful neglect” of schoolkids over its slow vaccination rollout. Professor Susan Michie said: “I don’t know any time in history where Government policy has put children so knowingly at risk. The BMA [this week] used the words ‘willful neglect’ about the failure to call for Plan B. I think the policy for schools has also been willful neglect – or it appears to look like that.”

She said of the jab for 12-to-15s: “It could have been rolled out in summer to protect all secondary children come September – but that wasn’t done.”

Prof Michie and Dr Gurdasani both said we are paying the price for lifting restrictions on July 19 and called for prompt measures to halt a rise in cases – including a cap on large gatherings.