Office for National Statistics
New figures, published on Tuesday, reveal that an estimated 5.4m adults in England had evidence of previous infection.
"People understand overwhelmingly that we have no choice" but to impose a third lockdown, Boris Johnson said.
The latest ONS figures show that the number of payroll employees in the UK has dropped by 819,000 since the start of Covid-19.
The former minister said the country was "impersonating the Grand Old Duke of York".
Half of us spotted people breaching restrictions – but very few of us seem to care.
Ethnicity pay gap continues to plague England and Wales, new data show, with the capital worst affected.
The coronavirus claimed almost 50,000 lives in the UK between January and August this year.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated 1 in 17 people in England have Covid-19 antibodies.
New data revealed as the government eases lockdown restrictions – but imposes quarantine of holidaymakers returning from France.
Researchers believe diabetes played a “significant factor” in the increased risk of death among South Asian people being treated in hospital for Covid-19.