According to official estimates, the number of people in the country has risen by more than 1,000 since Monday, and by more than 2,000 in the last seven days, reported The Independent.

According to Public Health England (PHE), a total of 3,424 cases of the Indian form of coronavirus B1617.2 – considered to be more transmissible – have now been reported in the UK.

The figures for Thursday represent an increase of 2,111 cases over the previous week, when there were 1,313 cases, and a 47 percent increase over the 2,323 cases recorded in the UK on Monday.

On Thursday, a member of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) cautioned that the UK may be in the midst of the pandemic's third wave.

The vast majority of the India variant cases have been confirmed in England, with 3,245 confirmed cases in England, 136 in Scotland, 28 in Wales, and 15 in Northern Ireland.

While the majority of cases were concentrated in the northwest, especially in Bolton and London, PHE said it was now seeing "clusters of cases" all over the world.