Downing Street rejected calls for a rethink of the government's Covid strategy, despite health chiefs warning hospitals faced a "brutal Easter as bad as any winter".
The NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, has urged ministers to back restrictions on meeting indoors and masks in crowded spaces alongside a new public awareness drive.
It comes after Covid cases last week hit the highest since February 2021, with 20,331 new inpatients logged and a record one in 13 people estimated to have the virus in England.
