THE PRIME Minister is under pressure to announce an immediate new lockdown after acknowledging there was "no question" tougher action was needed.

The Prime Minister said he would act “in due course” and “will do everything that’s necessary”.

But he was warned not to delay the announcement of new restrictions in England as cases and pressure on the NHS increased.

The latest figures from Public Health England show that there were 122 Covid-19 patients at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), who run Basingstoke, Andover and Winchester hospitals, as of December 30, with three on ventilation.

However, this figure could have increased since then, with 175 people having tested positive for the virus on Friday (January 1) in Basingstoke alone, and 82 on Thursday, December 31.

At the peak of the pandemic in April, the highest number of patients in HHFT hospitals with Covid was 148.

The figures have gradually been creeping up again since early October.

It came after HHFT's chief executive Alex Whitfield made the "difficult decision" to postpone some planned operations.

In a statement, she said that the Trust was "under increasing pressure due to a sharp rise in the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 who need hospital care".

She added: “As such, we have had to make the difficult decision to start postponing some planned operations.

“This is being done in a phased way with as many operations as we can, continuing to go ahead. However, over the coming days it is likely that more of our patients will be affected. Those who are impacted by this decision will be contacted individually.

“If we don’t contact you then please come in for your appointment as planned.”

The NHS has been trying to avoid cancelling non-urgent treatment as it deals with a further rise in coronavirus infections, after having to do so during the first wave.

Today, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt called for immediate action to close schools, shut borders and ban household mixing, saying the situation was “off-the-scale worse” than previous winter crises faced by the NHS.

“In the face of exponential growth even waiting an extra day causes many avoidable deaths so these plans must now be urgently accelerated,” he said.

Currently, all of Hampshire is under tier 4 restrictions, meaning non-essential shops must close, hospitality venues are only able to serve takeaway and people are urged not to travel.