Group items tagged

British health officials on Wednesday (September 28) warned that increased circulation of flu and a resurgence in Covid-19 could lead to a difficult winter that increases pressure on the already stretched NHS. Warnings over a possible "twindemic" of Covid-19 and flu have been issued each winter since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, but Covid restrictions that limited social contact have meant flu levels stayed low. However, the government ended coronavirus restrictions earlier this year, meaning that social contact rates have returned to near pre-pandemic norms while immunity to flu is relatively low. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that given the risk it was important those eligible took up vaccines against Covid and flu. "There are strong indications we could be facing the threat of widely circulating flu, lower levels of natural immunity due to less exposure over the last three winters and an increase in Covid-19 circulating," said Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at UKHSA.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has warned that there has been a continued increase in cases of whooping cough (pertussis) across England since the start of this year. According to new data published by the agency on Thursday (7 March), 553 new cases of whooping cough were confirmed in January alone, compared with 858 cases for the whole of last year (2023). The country is witnessing a surge in whooping cough cases after a prolonged period of low case numbers, attributed to restrictions and reduced social interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. England recorded the highest number of whooping cough cases in 2016, recording 5,949 cases. As the ongoing rise coincides with a steady decline in the vaccination rates among pregnant women and children, UKHSA has strongly encouraged mums-to-be to get the maternal pertussis vaccine so that their young baby is protected against this serious disease.

England is set to reopen temporary field hospitals to contain a possible overspill of inpatients due to a surge in coronavirus cases, the national health service said Thursday. Fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant, daily cases have ballooned, standing at more than 183,000 on Wednesday. NHS England said it would start building the structures in the grounds of eight hospitals in cities including London, Bristol and Leeds from this week, with each designed to house around 100 extra patients. "Given the high level of Covid-19 infections and increasing hospital admissions, the NHS is now on a war footing," National medical director Stephen Powis said. The extra beds are designed for patients who are recovering from illnesses, including those who no longer have Covid, to free up space and staff to treat large numbers of virus cases.

The minimum Covid-19 self-isolation period in England will be cut to five days from seven if someone tests negative twice, health secretary Sajid Javid said on Thursday (January 13) - a move that could reduce staffing disruption in businesses and infrastructure. The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has fuelled a spike in Covid-19 cases to record highs in Britain, and the surge has cause major disruption to the staffing of hospitals, schools and transport as staff have to self-isolate. "We've made the decision to reduce the minimum self-isolation period to five full days in England," Javid told parliament. "From Monday, people can test twice before they go, leaving isolation at the start of day six." The government had previously reduced isolation period to seven days from 10 days to people in England who get a negative result on a rapid lateral flow test two days in a row.

Two new subvariants of Omicron - BA.4 and BA.5 - are spreading much faster than other corovanirus variants in Europe, which could lead to more hospitalisations and deaths as they become dominant, the EU's disease prevention agency said on Monday (June 13). Most EU countries have so far detected low rates of the two subgroups. But in countries where the proportion has risen - such as Portugal, where BA.5 accounted for 87 per cent of cases by May 30 - there have been surges in overall cases, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The two sublineages were added to the World Health Organization's monitoring list in March and have also been designated as variants of concern by the ECDC. Variants BA.4 and BA.5 do not appear to carry a higher risk of severe disease than other forms of Omicron.But an increase in case numbers from higher transmission rates risks leading to an increase in hospitalisations and deaths, the agency said. "The growth advantage reported for BA.4 and BA.5 suggest that these variants will become dominant," ECDC said in a statement on its website.

Around 90 percent of coronavirus patients in intensive care units have not had a booster jab, prime minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday (December 29) - defending his decision not to tighten virus curbs in England. Speaking at a vaccination centre, Johnson urged people to get "vital" booster jabs, saying "the overwhelming majority" of those currently going into intensive care in our hospitals have not had the booster jab. "I've talked to doctors who say the numbers are running up to 90 percent of people in intensive care who are not boosted," the prime minister added in Milton Keynes in Hertfordshire. Those who have not been vaccinated are "eight times more likely to get into hospital," he warned. The UK has been hit by a huge surge of the new Omicron variant, with England and Wales reporting record case numbers on Tuesday. The UK has been one of Europe's worst hit with a death toll of 148,021.

Attempts to deal with record waiting lists for hospital treatment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic are at risk of being derailed by a staffing crisis, which is being exacerbated by the Omicron wave, a cross-party lawmakers' report said on Thursday (January 6). The report entitled 'Clearing the backlog caused by the pandemic' calls for a broader national health and care recovery plan - one that would embrace A&E, mental health, GPs, community and social care. Hospitals are facing extreme pressure as they try to catch up on months of operations that have been delayed and suspended during the pandemic, as Covid-19 hospitalizations rise once more and self-isolation hits staffing levels. There is a record 5.8 million waiting list for elective care, the Health and Social Care Committee said, adding that a recent surge in the Omicron variant has pushed cases to record highs and intensified pre-existing issues.

Britain on Tuesday (January 4) faced warnings of an impending hospital crisis due to staff shortages caused by a wave of Omicron infections, as the country returned to work after Christmas. However, Britain's vaccine minister said hospitalised Covid-19 patients were showing less severe symptoms than before, adding that there was no need for further restrictions at this stage. Prime minister Boris Johnson resisted imposing stringent lockdown measures in England ahead of New Year as Omicron fuelled a spike in cases to record highs. While hospitalisations are rising they have not tracked the trajectory of daily cases, possibly reflecting the impact of vaccines and booster shots, the likely lower severity of Omicron and the time lag in people going into hospital. "At the moment, if you look at the people who have been hospitalised, they are going in with less severe conditions than before," minister for Vaccines and Public Health Maggie Throup told Sky News, adding that the "Plan B" Johnson brought in in December was working. "The numbers that are in hospital beds is about half what it was a year ago - and that just shows the power of the vaccine."

Daily hospital admissions in Britain could soon hit a new high because the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading so fast, piling pressure on a health service struggling with staff sickness, England's chief medical officer said on Thursday (December 16). Britain recorded on Wednesday its highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic at 78,610. Omicron is so transmissible that even if it proves to be milder than other variants, it could still cause a surge in hospital admissions, Chris Whitty told lawmakers. The record for the number of people admitted to hospital with Covid-19 is 4,583 set in January. "It is possible, because this is going to be very concentrated over a short period of time, even if it's milder, you could end up with a higher number than that going into hospital on a single day," he said.