Britain is "not out of the woods yet" when it comes to coronavirus and people should approach the end of most restrictions on Monday with caution, England's chief medical officer has warned.

Professor Chris Whitty said the number of people in hospital with coronavirus is doubling around every three weeks and could hit "quite scary numbers" if that trend is sustained.

"I don't think we should underestimate the fact that we could get into trouble again surprisingly fast," he told a webinar hosted by the Science Museum.

He added: "We are not by any means out of the woods yet on this, we are in much better shape due to the vaccine program, and drugs and a variety of other things."

"But this has got a long way to run in the UK, and it's got even further to run globally."

Professor Whitty said that the key thing after 19 July was "to take things incredibly slowly", adding that he expects most people will still take precautions.

This comes even as the Kingdom reported 51,870 new COVID-19 cases in the latest 24-hour period - the highest number since 15 January, according to government figures.

Some 49 deaths were also confirmed during the same period.

It comes just days before the government is expected to ease all social distancing restrictions and mask-wearing rules in England, despite protests from medical experts.

(With input from agencies)