Today, “Zero-Covid” scientists demanded that the Government activate its winter Plan B’ in order to safeguard the NHS. This despite falling coronavirus infections and hospital admissions.
Independent Sage, an influential pressure group made up of distinguished experts, stated that compulsory masks were urgently required and widespread WFH was needed in Australia to “save Christmas and the NHS”.
The group — which includes a former Government chief scientific adviser, a Communist Party member and some of No10’s own scientists — claimed the ‘very high levels of Covid’ were putting ‘extreme pressure’ on the health service.
Independent Sage calls for immediate action following a series of alarming statistics that revealed the severity of the NHS’ crisis. There were record waiting times, record-breaking 999 call volumes and records of ambulance waits.
According to doctors, the NHS is being brought down to its knees by staff who are too busy. Patients were left waiting in ambulances or waiting rooms while they died.
However, other experts claim that Plan B is not justified due to the Covid current situation. Admissions to the virus are down for almost a whole week and will continue to decline in the weeks ahead.
In line with the nation’s surveillance study that found a 16.1% weekly drop last week and has seen a decline in cases of covid, these numbers have been declining since October 24. The death rate is also trending downward.
The Government must immediately implement Plan B… Independent Sage stated that the NHS faces extreme pressure and is increasing in number. The backlog is growing at an alarming rate.
“Most important, it is possible to work from home and that indoor space must be provided with mandated facemasks. Additional protective measures, such as good ventilation and financial assistance for self-isolation should also be considered.
No10 said that it will only go back to the winter Covid Plan B’ strategy if the NHS is under ‘unsustainable pressure’, something ministers claim, even though health leaders have repeatedly stated otherwise.
The current NHS crisis is not due to Covid, according to Dr Raghib Ali of Cambridge University. He also works as an NHS consultant for acute medicine.
According to him, if we return to Plan B, it will not be a solution. [but]There is no quick solution.
Given that the number of Covid patients is half what it was last year, there are some questions as to whether this has contributed to the NHS crisis.
The number of people infected with the virus is down nearly one week.
Official data showed that 5.83 million people are still waiting for NHS treatment. This is the 11th consecutive month of record numbers. Some 1.6million more Britons were waiting for elective surgery — such as hip and keen operations — at the end of September compared to the start of the pandemic
Despite the total A&E admissions in England being just two per cent more than one month earlier and equal to the number of people who came forward during the same month in 2019, 7,059 patients were forced to wait more than 12 hours to be seen at A&E. It is 40% higher than the record 5,024 who were forced to wait this long a month before. The record-breaking figure is five times higher than it was in September 2020, and tenfold more than what the same month of 2019 entails.
Although the NHS has struggled for years to provide emergency response time for Category 2 cases, which are medical emergencies that include strokes or severe burns, there have been unprecedented increases in patient wait times of nearly one hour for ambulances after they were called 99.
A record number of 999 calls were made in England in October with 1,012,143 urgent calls for medical help made. The average response time to these calls was 56 seconds
Independent Sage’s Professor Susan Michie (a behavioural expert, who sits on SAGE Government Science Panel) slammed Johnson directly.
She stated that the Government must encourage behaviours to lower our high transmission rates to save Christmas and the NHS. The PM wearing a mask around a hospital that has vulnerable patients is a detriment to this effort.
Professor Michie is a Communist Party of Britain member for over 40 years. He said: “Enabling behavior change is everyone’s responsibility, especially those in authority or influence.
“The PM is seen walking around the hospital in a maskless manner with patients who are vulnerable, which undermines our safety.
After he was photographed in Northumberland walking along a corridor in hospital without wearing a mask on Monday, Johnson received criticism. The NHS trust defended him and said that Johnson wore a mask while in the wards.
Dr Ali stated that the emphasis should be placed on booster vaccines. These are highly effective in preventing hospital admissions and masks only slightly reduce transmission.
He stated that there were many other things you could and should do in order to improve your own health (and reduce the NHS pressure). However, most of these will not have a significant impact on long-term outcomes. This is why I focus my attention on booster jabs. These can be used within two weeks to decrease hospital admissions by 80 percent.
These demands follow yesterday’s publication of monthly NHS England data which revealed that even with a significant increase in Covid, the NHS England is still facing crisis.
Infected people were found in the nation by the Office for National Statistics. They are based on thousands upon thousands of random blood swab tests. The Office for National Statistics calculated the case numbers using thousands of random samples. It was estimated that 925,000.400 people had contracted the virus in any week ended November 6. This figure is equivalent to 1 in 60 people being infected with the virus. It’s 16.1% lower than that of 1,103,300 people who were infected a week prior, which was one in fifty.
No10’s top scientists tracking the R rate — which measures the speed the outbreak is growing at — estimated that it was between 0.8 and 1 in England. The virus is being passed to many people, with eight to ten cases per ten.
Record-breaking 5.83million people are currently waiting on the NHS for routine treatment. This is despite the massive toll that was created by the pandemic.
Paramedics admit that patients are being put at risk by the fact that the ambulance response time to stroke and heart attacks patients takes nearly one hour.
The 999 response time for Category 2 calls is now 3 times faster than the 18-minute safety target.
Doctors warn that these grim figures are ‘concerning’ due to winter pressures, staffing shortages, and have not reached peak levels.
A poll of NHS bosses found nine in 10 felt the current situation — dealing with the pandemic-induced backlog and Covid — is ‘unsustainable’ and patient care is being compromised.
There have been reports of some elderly Brits having to wait up to 14 hours for an ambulance, and investigations are underway into the deaths of several patients in parked ambulances unable to handover patients to overwhelmed A&Es.
NHS England statistics reveal it took crews nearly 55 minutes to respond to Category 2 calls — including strokes, heart attacks and severe burns — in October, compared to the 18-minute target.
Record delays were also experienced by the most critical incidents last month, including cardiac arrests or life-threatening injuries. It took paramedics on average nine minutes 20 seconds to respond for Category 1 calls. This is well over the seven-minute target.
GMB, a trade union representing workers and their families warned that the NHS could be in danger of becoming a winter disaster by increasing wait times for ambulances.
The leaders of the Ambulance Service described their ‘highest emergency activity’ in recent history and voiced concern over the delay in handover to hospitals.
The poll by the NHS Confederation showed that many NHS leaders believed the NHS was under pressure and that patient safety is being threatened due to staff shortages.
Leaders of the NHS in England have warned that the NHS has hit a ‘tipping point. Nearly nine out 10 (88%) said the demands placed on them are not sustainable.
Nearly the same percentage (87%) said that a shortage of staff in the NHS overall is putting patient safety at risk.
Survey of 451 healthcare leaders covered hospitals, primary care, emergency services, mental health, community and hospital services.
But Covid cases in England dropped by 16 per cent last week, leading to questions about the virus is truly behind the NHS pressure.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 925,400 persons in the country had been infected during the week ended November 6, according to the ONS.
This gives rise to 1 in 60 cases of the virus. 16.1 percentage lower than 1,103 300 cases that were reported one week ago, when only one in 50 was believed to be infected.
All age groups are seeing a drop in cases, but 11 to 16 year-olds have seen the most dramatic decline. There is a 4.8% chance of contracting the virus within the week. This compares to 7.5% the previous seven days.
Experts have said that the decrease in immune function is more important than behavioral changes and restrictions.
Separate data released yesterday by Britain’s biggest symptom-tracking research showed that cases dropped by nearly a fifth during the largest weekly drop since summer.
Yesterday, data from the Department for Health showed that Covid case numbers rose 14%. This is the first increase in 10 consecutive days. However, hospitalisations fell and so did deaths week-on-week.
There are now approximately 6800 Covid patients in English hospital versus more than 12,000 the year before.
Meanwhile, it emerged today that the Army will continue helping two health boards in Scotland with acute services after their request for the assistance to be extended was approved by the Ministry of Defence.
In October, NHS Borders and NHS Lanarkshire were under pressure from the army.
Ministry of Defence approved the request of the health boards to extend Military Aid to Civilian Authority (MACA), which was initially due to finish on November 10th.
The total number of employees involved in this work will be 84, including 21 in Borders and 63 from Lanarkshire.
They are expected to remain involved until December 8th in the Borders, and December 17th in Lanarkshire. The timelines will be reviewed regularly.
Non-emergency drivers are also provided by the Army. Testing is done through mobile units.
According to an Army statement, ‘More Than 450 Armed Forces personnel support multiple MACA tasks within Scotland. Operation Rescript, the defence’s support for the UK’s pandemic response which started in March 2020, includes these tasks.
“Defence supported UK communities during the pandemic. They provided support for planning, alongside governments and resilience teams. Ambulance drivers. Health care assistants in hospitals.
“The Armed Forces are ready to support civil authorities and devolved countries and communities as needed in the next months, provided that the MACA principles are met.”
The latest coronavirus statistics show that Scotland has recorded 17 deaths due to Covid and 349 additional cases within the last 24 hours.
This means that the daily death rate for people who have tested positive for the virus in the past 28 days is 9,375.
According to data from the Scottish Government published on Friday, the daily test positive rate increased by 9.8% over 8.2 percent the previous day.
On Thursday, 759 patients were admitted to hospital with Covid-19 recently confirmed, which was down 9 and 55 for intensive care.
Up to now, 432 5,523 individuals have already received their Covid-19 vaccine and 392 2,893 people have their second.