Yesterday, a senior NHS official expressed optimism that London hospitals can manage Omicron waves as new hospitalisations decline.
Chris Hopson, Head of NHS Providers said that while daily hospitalisations were increasing at a “very concerning rate”, a lower rate over recent days indicates that hospitals can manage new patients without the need to take additional measures.
The comments were made public in a lengthy Twitter thread. They came one week after he stated that additional restrictions wouldn’t be necessary despite rising cases of severe hospitalisations.
Department of Health bosses reported a further 157,758 cases in the UK yesterday, a rise from the 109,077 cases which were reported last Monday.
The number of people dying with the virus saw a 70.6 per cent decrease, Yesterday’s death toll in the UK was 42, as compared to 143 reported on December 27, 2013.
The number of London hospital admissions has been falling. On January 1, 314 people were admitted, a 28% decrease on the 437 who were admitted Monday.
Chris Hopson, Head of NHS Providers said that while daily hospitalisations were increasing at a “very concerning rate”, a lower rate over recent days indicates that hospitals in the capital will be able manage new patients without any further measures.
On 03/01/2022, a man is seen passing through a temporary Nightingale field hospital, which was built on the St. Georges Hospital parking lot in south London. To prepare for Omicron variant admissions, a number of Nightgale hubs have been built in hospitals.
Hopson shared London’s covid hospitalisation data via Twitter yesterday. He argued that hospitals in the capital will be the first to emerge from Omicron peak to give insight to hospitals throughout the country.
‘Last two days data more encouraging. Daily hospitalisations last week were growing at a very concerning rate – 9%, 15% and 9% 27, 28, 29 Dec, but growth rate over last few days dropped significantly,’ he said.
The ‘Number patients treated with covid in London hospitals increased by 5% each on 31 and December, and then 1% (January 1st) and 2% (2 Jan). If this lower rate of growth continues for the next few days (a big if), there is growing optimism that London will be able cope with this week.
Hopson stated however that restrictions should be implemented quickly by the government if necessary and noted the increasing pressures on NHS staff and hospitals due to Omicron.
“We must recognize that the term “coping” under-plays the pressure trusts are under and frontline staff face. The fact that in many cases trusts have to delay care plans again can impact patients’, he said.
Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine, said yesterday that data from ZOE Covid suggests London’s peak in infections just before Christmas.
On Twitter, he wrote: “Latest Zoe data suggests London infections did peak just before Christmas. They are likely to peak nationally around now. However, there is still variation from region to region.”
And scientist Tim Spector, who works for the PREDICT studies and the ZOE Covid study app, tweeted: ‘Covid cases in London now decreasing + UK slowing – it is great to see no real change in Covid deaths over last month.
“The staff problem caused by over-protective isolation rules is threatening to drive the health crisis.” Let’s keep this at 5 days.
Hopson used Twitter to post data on London covid hospitalisations and suggested that London’s hospitals would emerge first from Omicron Peak to offer insight for other hospitals.
The PM announced today that the government was considering redeploying staff after being warned by the public sector to prepare for the worst case scenario in which a quarter (or 1.4 million) of employees would be off work.
According to official statistics, one in ten NHS workers were absent on New Year’s Eve. However, only 50,000 of 110,000 employees had coronavirus.
The restrictions in England were reviewed by ministers on Wednesday. There is growing confidence that no further tightening will occur.
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, visited Stoke Mandeville to visit a vaccine centre. He said Omicron was ‘plainly gentler’.
While he warned that it was foolish to think the pandemic has passed and the health services will continue to face ‘considerable pressure’ in the coming weeks, he did not say that additional restrictions were necessary.
I believe the best way for the country to go is to maintain the same path we are on. The PM stated that everything would be reviewed.
“The combination of the things we are doing right now is the best one, according to me.”
Nadhim Zhawi, the Education Secretary, told BBC Breakfast “there is absolutely nothing in this data to indicate that I am concerned that we must go beyond what we’re at.”
“There is some good information from London showing that the rates of infection are declining, but not quite at this point.” However, we see an increase in infections among the older population. It’s usually the elderly who are most likely to end up suffering from severe illness and need hospitalisation.
Sky News’ minister stated that the number of coronavirus-infected patients has been on the rise among over-50s. This is something we worry about. The good news is that overall, the ICU population has declined.
