Experts have warned that a ‘devastating’ new Covid wave is already beginning in Britain and might impair the NHS this winter. As a result of vaccines and Covid infections, new subvariants of Omicron are ‘evolving around the immunity’. This winter, the NHS is already ‘on its knees,’ according to some scientists, who worry that the new immune-evasive strains could pose ‘serious issues’. However, Liz Truss’ government is unlikely to reinstate pandemic-era limitations because rising immunisation rates have changed the disease into something more akin to flu.
Covid cases rose 14 per cent last week, according to the most up-to-date figures. The jump marked the first sustained rise since mid-July. Around 1.1million Britons are currently infected, statisticians estimate. Officials allege a drop in testing and inadequate surveillance of new immune-evasive subvariants has created the ‘perfect storm’.
Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist and co-founder of the Covid ZOE app, said that symptoms are presenting themselves slightly differently than in prior variants. ‘Many people are still using the government guidelines about symptoms which are wrong,’ Professor Spector argued. ‘We’ve really taken our eye off the ball with Covid tests,’ said University of Warwick virologist Professor Lawrence Young.
Professor David Young said the new variants of the Ebola virus are starting to cause an increase in infections. Professor Denis Kinane, who founded Covid testing company Cignpost Diagnostic, also raised concerns about the lack of free testing in the UK. The virologist called for the return of masking at ‘crowded indoor spaces’ and areas that are ‘poorly ventilated’.
The number of people infected with the virus has risen by 12 per cent over the space of three days. Around 860,000 people in England are thought to be carrying Covid throughout the country. Care backlogs have amassed to record highs, patients have been killed by ambulance delays and thousands forced to queue 12-plus hours in A&E units.
Rationing care is the only way to ensure critically-ill patients get urgent care, bosses said. The never-ending crisis has already forced one NHS trust in Nottinghamshire to start cancelling routine operations. Leaders fear the situation will only worsen as routine winter pressures begin to bite. Covid and flu expected to combine to create a ‘twindemic’.
The number of Covid-infected patients occupying hospital beds is increasing, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. However, the figures are well below the 34,000 who needed treatment in January 2021. Only a third of infected patients occupying NHS beds are primarily ill with Covid. And the number of patients being treated directly for Covid is roughly an eighth of that of so-called bed-blockers.
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