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The UK has recorded 58,784 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily total since the start of the pandemic.
It is the seventh consecutive day that more than 50,000 daily cases have been registered.
Some 2,713,563 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK.
Government figures also show that there have been 407 more deaths in the last 24 hours.
The total number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive COVID test in the UK stands at 75,431, although the numbers are sometimes lower after the weekend due to delays in reporting.
Live coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world
The new figures do not represent UK-wide results as Scotland did not report data on deaths on Monday.
The latest figures compare with 54,990 coronavirus infections and 454 deaths on Sunday.
On Monday of last week, UK reported 41,385 positive tests – the first time that the daily number of reported cases in the UK exceeded 40,000 – and 357 deaths, although these figures may also have been affected by a delay in reporting over Christmas.
The prime minister said earlier today that tougher measures were coming in an attempt to control the spread of the coronavirus, with an announcement at 8 p.m.
Boris Johnson warned of “tough, difficult” weeks ahead in the UK’s fight against COVID-19.
He added: “If you look at the numbers, there is no doubt that we will have to take tougher action and announce them in due course.”
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said on Sunday that the government must impose a national lockdown within 24 hours because COVID-19 is “clearly out of control”.
The latest figures available show that there has been a 33% increase in the number of patients with coronavirus in hospitals in England between Christmas Day and January 2.
Scotland’s Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the COVID situation as “extremely serious” and announced that Scotland would be placed in full lockdown for January.
Monday brought some positive news, as 82-year-old Brian Pinker became the first person in the world to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine since it was approved for use in the UK last month.
Some 53,000 doses of the Oxford University jab are initially being deployed in six hospital trusts in Oxford, Sussex, Lancashire, Warwickshire and two in London.
It is the second COVID vaccine to be rolled out in the UK after Pfizer / BioNTech.
Most of Oxford’s vaccine supplies will be shipped to more than 700 GP-run care and service centers.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News it was a “great British success story, starting today.”
But he said that fighting the virus was “a massive national effort.”
