Thanks for joining us. Today's writers were Sophie Williams, Becky Morton, Jo Couzens, Matt Murphy and Alex Therrien. The live page was edited by Owen Amos.

As ever, you can follow any major developments on the news site - just go to the front page. And for more in-depth coverage, you can go to our dedicated coronavirus section, here.

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We’ll be ending our live coverage for today shortly but, before we go, here’s a reminder of today’s main coronavirus headlines from the UK.

• The UK sees record daily cases again, with 119,789 coronavirus reported today, according to the government's daily figures, external
• UK Covid infections are at their highest level since records began, according to a separate study by the Office for National Statistics
• People with Omicron are between 50% and 70% less likely to need hospital care than with previous variants of coronavirus, an early report by the UK Health Security Agency says
• There will be no announcement on new measures for England before Christmas, although there could be fresh curbs after then
• Scotland announces nightclubs will have to close for at least three weeks from 27 December
• Two more Premier League games have been cancelled because of Covid outbreaks at clubs

Analysis: UK testing system standing up to challengepublished at 17:15 Greenwich Mean Time 23 December 2021

17:15 GMT 23 December 2021

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

Testing has slowed down a little bit this week - but there’s no sign of the crash in testing that some feared the Omicron surge could cause.

About 95% of cases reported on Wednesday were from tests taken in the previous three days.

That’s a little lower than previous Wednesdays (hitting 99% in recent weeks) but it hasn’t fallen off a cliff as some were worried it might.

That worry came because, last Wednesday, we used about three-quarters of the lab tests available in the UK.

With Omicron doubling every few days, the fear was that one or two more doublings would stretch the system beyond its limits.

In Autumn 2020, tests started to take much longer to come back once we hit about 85% of the available lab capacity, making it harder to track how fast the virus was growing.

But that has turned out to be a peak: the most recent figures have us back down below 70% of capacity.

It’s still too soon to know whether that’s less testing or less virus: last Tuesday was the last day you could start your 10-day isolation and be out by Christmas.

The UKHSA's report comes after data from South Africa, Denmark, England and Scotland also pointed to reduced severity.

The agency's analysis is based on all cases of Omicron and Delta in the UK since the beginning of November - including 132 people admitted to hospital with Omicron.

The study found people with Omicron were:

• 31% to 45% less likely to go to A&E
• 50% to 70% less likely to be admitted to hospital

Some 14 people have died within 28 days of an Omicron diagnosis, the UKHSA says.

While vaccine protection against severe disease from Omicron looks likely to be far more robust, there is uncertainty about what will happen when the variant reaches older age groups. Most of those catching it and going into hospital were under the age of 40.

Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA chief executive, says their analysis shows an "encouraging early signal" that people who contract the Omicron variant may be at a relatively lower risk of hospitalisation.

But she adds: "Cases are currently very high in the UK, and even a relatively low proportion requiring hospitalisation could result in a significant number of people becoming seriously ill."

People with Omicron are between 50% and 70% less likely to need hospital care than with previous variants of coronavirus, analysis by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) suggests.

The agency says that while the early findings were "encouraging" there is still potential for a "significant number" of people to end up in hospital.

And the report shows signs that the effect of booster doses drops by between 15% and 25% after 10 weeks.

As this chart shows, cases are surging in the UK...

Hospitalisations are also increasing - but not at the same sharp rate.

And the number of deaths in the UK within 28 days of a positive Covid test continues to fall.

Image source, Getty Images

Vatican officials announced on Thursday that all employees of the tiny state will have to have a new pass proving they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or prove they have recovered from the virus.

Any official who fails to present the pass will not be allowed to work and will forfeit wages for any time absent, according to a decree issued by the city's highest political official, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Previously unvaccinated workers were able to enter workplaces by providing negative results of recent coronavirus tests.

But the decree was issued amidst concerns over the "worsening of the current health emergency," with new Covid-19 infections rapidly rising across Italy.

Almost 5,000 people are employed in the city.

Pope Francis has consistently been a strong advocate of vaccines.

The 85-year-old has expressed bemusement at the vaccine hesitancy displayed by some members of his church and both he and his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, have recently received their booster vaccinations.

There were 307 Covid-19 admissions in London hospitals on 21 December, NHS England said, up 54% week-on-week.

It's the highest for a single day since 4 February. Admissions in London during the second wave peaked at 977 on 6 January.

Across England, 1,098 admissions were recorded on 21 December, up 35% week-on-week and the highest number for a single day since 18 February.

The second-wave peak was 4,134 admissions on 12 January.

Not everyone in hospital with Covid is there primarily because of the virus - in London, around 25% of patients are there because of something else (see analysis at 12:04 GMT).

• Before 15 December, the UK had never reported more than 70,000 cases in a day. That has now happened for nine days in a row
• New daily case records have been set on five of the past nine days, including the past two days
• Today's number of infections is more than 52% higher than the record set on 15 December

As well as announcing another record day of Covid infections, the UK's stats dashboard has also just increased Wednesday's cases figure.

The total yesterday was given as 106,122 - that has now been increased to 109,655 due to a revision in Scotland's figures.

The number of coronavirus cases in the UK has increased by 235,787 - or 53.3% - in the last seven days, compared to the previous week, according to the government figures.

The number of daily deaths reported has decreased by 2.4% in the last seven days, compared to the previous week.

But it's worth remembering that it usually takes time for hospital admissions and deaths to increase after cases start to rise. And it's only been a few weeks since the first Omicron cases were identified in the UK.

There have been another 147 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, the latest figures also show.

A further 119,789 coronavirus cases have been reported in the UK, according to the government's daily figures, external.

As we await the 4pm figures, this chart shopws hospital admissions are not yet rising at the same sharp rate as cases.

There's always a lag between people getting infected and then being admitted to hospital - but vaccines and previous infections are also reducing serious illness.

There are also suggestions Omicron may be milder than previous variants.

A total of 8,008 people were in hospital with Covid on Tuesday, while the total number of people admitted in the past week is up 2.3% on the previous seven days.

Meanwhile, deaths within 28 days of a positive test are down 2.7% on the previous week, with 140 reported on Wednesday.

As always, the UK's daily Covid figures are coming up at 16:00 GMT.

Yesterday's data saw a record 106,122 cases recorded - the first time the daily figure has passed 100,000.

The total number of weekly cases are up 58.9% on the previous seven days.

We'll be watching closely to see if there's another jump - after one scientist suggested London had probably reached the peak of Omicron infections.

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Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is right to wait for more data before imposing further Covid restrictions, Greater Manchester's night-time economy adviser has said.

Sacha Lord, who was appointed into the role by Labour's Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, told BBC Radio 4's World at One that "for once" he was agreeing with the government.

His comments back up what Burnham said earlier - see our post at 11:30 GMT.

Lord says: "We have to see the figures from the scientists before we make any knee-jerk reaction.

"What I would say is the second he [Johnson] decides what to do he urgently has to step forward and announce that with absolute clarity. Because in England, at the moment, we are sat in limbo."

Image source, Getty Images

The government has doubled the support for theatres, museums, music venues and other arts organisations in England to deal with the impact of Omicron after criticism that the original £30m was not enough.

Many theatres and concert venues have been forced to cancel performances and have seen bookings drop sharply as a result of infections and audience concerns.

"Christmas is a very important time of year for so many of our brilliant arts and culture organisations who have now found themselves impacted by the Omicron variant," Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said.

“It is absolutely right that we support them through this challenging time which is why we’ve doubled the emergency funding available from the Culture Recovery Fund and allowed more time for organisations to come forward."

The increase comes two days after the original support, which came as part of a wider package for business and hospitality, was given a lukewarm reception by the arts and entertainment industry.

On Tuesday, Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell told BBC Radio 4's Front Row the original package was "a very small sticking plaster".

The government has also pledged £1.5m to help freelancers. On Wednesday, the Scottish government announced an £8m fund for freelancers.

Power cables were stolen from a vaccination centre in Tonbridge, Kent, prompting an urgent Twitter appeal by local MP Tom Tugendhat.

But within a short time, local business Piper Electrical Centre came to the rescue.

The centre appeared to be functioning as normal again, according to posts on social media, but some people who had their vaccines said there was no heating or lighting at the site.

Tugendhat made his appeal for help at about 08:30 GMT, then said the site was "back up and running" an hour later.

He added: "Thank you for pulling together. Tonbridge is a fantastic community and I hope we're about to see @kent_police at their best."