At least 41 per cent of under 30s suffering from coronavirus in England caught the disease in a pub, bar or restaurant, leaked Government slides have claimed.
And a quarter of Covid-19 infections across all age groups have been linked to the hospitality venues.
The shocking figures are in stark contrast to official data from Public Health England, which suggests only four per cent of Covid-19 outbreaks are linked to the businesses.
Presented at a Public Health England press briefing, the slides - marked 'official - sensitive' - warned the North of England could have as many people in intensive care suffering from Covid-19 as it did in April - at the peak of the pandemic - within three weeks.
It warned that a further tightening of lockdown restrictions was needed to curb the current rise in infections. The meeting was led by Chris Whitty, Britain's chief medical officer, and Ed Argar, a health minister.
The move is thought to signal the impending tightening of restrictions in the North of England and Nottinghamshire, although few details were offered on what this may involve.
But it is thought pubs, bars and restaurants will be shuttered to slow the wave of infections.
One MP who was at the briefing said: 'The really scary thing for the North West and North East is that the projection is for there to be more people in intensive care within three weeks - 22 days actually - than there were in the first wave.
'Even though the figures are being driven by the under-30s, Whitty and co are clearly very worried.'
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