The United Kingdom recorded a further 57,725 cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the fifth day running that it has topped 50,000, and another 445 deaths, official data showed.

Friday’s data had shown 53,285 new coronavirus infections and 613 deaths. 

Britain is battling a new wave of a virus that has already killed more than 74,000 people and crushed the economy. One of the worst hit countries in the world, it recorded 53,285 cases in the last 24 hours on Friday, and 613 new deaths.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has been criticized for frequent reversals during the pandemic, including delaying lockdown during the first wave in March and abandoning a system to award school grades without exams.

The temporary ‘Nightingale’ hospitals at locations such as convention centres were one success, built by the military in a matter of days. They were barely used but have remained on standby.

A Sky News report said intensive care units of three London hospitals were full on New Year’s Eve, forcing patients to be transferred to other hospitals for critical care.

“In anticipation of pressures rising from the spread of the new variant infection, the NHS London Region were asked to ensure the Nightingale was reactivated and ready to admit patients should it be needed,” a spokeswoman for the National Health Service (NHS) said.