Britain’s daily Covid cases rose by nearly a fifth today as Boris Johnson used Europe’s rising epidemic as a warning of what’s to come if Britons don’t get their booster vaccines.
The Department of Health reported another 40,375 infections across the UK over the past 24 hours, marking a rise of 19 per cent compared to last Friday and the second day in a row they’ve risen.
Johnson had warned of’storm clouds’ over some parts Europe’s continents and the rise in numbers.
In a noticeable shift in tone, the PM said: ‘I’ve got to be absolutely frank with people, we’ve been here before – and we remember what happens when a wave starts rolling in.’
Speaking during a Sidcup pharmacy visit, Mr Johnson suggested that Britain’s winter fate would depend on how many booster shots were given.
‘The UK has built in a huge amount of protection thanks to the vaccine roll-out and people’s amazing willingness to come forward and get jabbed,’ he said.
‘What I’m saying today is the urgency of getting that booster jab is more evident than ever. If you can get it, it’s a great thing. The levels of protection it gives you are terrific and so over-50s, who we’re calling forward, should come and get it.’
But he added: ‘What I’m also saying is that if we don’t do it fast enough, we can see the potential risks to the state of the pandemic in what’s happening in other parts of Europe.’
According to hospital records, 993 Covid patients were admitted on November 8. This is 7 percentage points lower than what was reported the week before. Another 145 coronavirus deaths were also registered today in a 25 per cent decrease compared to the toll last Friday.
Hospitalisations and deaths — which are both lagging indicators — have been falling for seven and four days in a row, respectively.
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 virus has seen admissions drop for almost a week (shown), with an average of 800 people per day now, compared to nearly 1,600 in November 2020.
Official data showed that 5.83million 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. This figure is five-fold higher than September 2020, and ten-fold more than that of the same month in 2019.
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. These calls were answered in record time of 56 seconds.
Today, “Zero-Covid” scientists demanded that the Government activate its winter Plan B’ in order to safeguard the NHS, despite falling coronavirus infections and hospital admissions.
Independent Sage is a group of prominent experts that has advocated for an Australian-style strategy to eliminate viruses. They said mandatory masks and wide spread WFH are ‘urgently needed’ in order to save the NHS and Christmas.
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’s crisis. There were record waiting times, record-breaking 999 call volumes and staggeringly high wait lists for routine care.
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.
Other experts disagree and argue that Plan B should not be implemented because of the Covid situation. The virus has been infected for more than a week.
The trend in covid cases has been down since October 24. This is consistent with the findings of the country’s main surveillance study, which showed a 16% weekly decline. Death rates are also starting to fall.
The Government must immediately implement Plan B. Independent Sage stated, “The NHS is under extreme pressure. It is getting worse. There is a huge backlog.
“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 stated that it would only return to its winter Covid strategy “Plan B” if there is a ‘unsustainable’ NHS pressure. Ministers disagree with this assertion, despite the fact that health officials insist 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, reverting back to Plan B will not solve the problem. [but]It is not possible to find a quick fix.
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 that 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.
This week, Johnson came under fire after being photographed walking in Northumberland’s hospital corridor without his mask.
Dr Ali suggested that booster vaccines should be the main focus, as they have been shown to prevent hospital admissions.
He said, “Of course you can do many things to help yourself (and relieve the pressure on NHS), but the majority of them won’t have any immediate impact. Therefore I am focusing on booster jabs that can decrease admissions by up to 80 percent in as little as two weeks.
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 these random results. 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 between 8 and 10 other people for each ten who are infected.
The NHS has a record number of patients waiting for routine treatment.
Paramedics acknowledged that this is placing patients’ lives at risk.
The 999 response time for Category 2 calls is now 3 times faster than the 18-minute safety target.
Drs cautioned that the poor performance numbers were “concerning” because of winter pressures and absences.
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.
Last month saw record-breaking delays in responding to the most serious incidents. This includes life-threatening events like cardiac arrests. It took paramedics on average nine minutes 20 seconds to respond for Category 1 calls. This is well over the seven-minute target.
GMB Trade Union warned of the danger that NHS may move from a winter crisis into a winter catastrophe due to the long wait times in the ambulance.
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 health officials believe the NHS has been under pressure at unsustainable levels. Staff shortages have also led to concerns about patient safety.
The leaders of the NHS England warn that the NHS is at a “tipping point”, with almost nine in ten (88%) saying their organization cannot sustain the demand.
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 infected in this country on any day of the week ended November 6th, according to the ONS.
This means that one in sixty people has the virus. It is 16.1% lower than the 1,103,300 cases estimated one week prior, in which one in fifty people was thought to have been infected.
All age groups are seeing a drop in cases, but 11-16 year-olds have the highest rate of the virus. This is compared to the 7.5 who had the virus seven days ago.
One expert stated that the immune system is responsible for the sudden drop in blood pressure.
A separate report by the UK’s largest symptom tracking study showed cases falling by almost one fifth, the highest weekly drop since last summer.
Yesterday’s Department for Health data showed that Covid cases rose by 14%, the highest increase in 10 days. However, hospitalisations fell and so did deaths week-on-week.
An estimated 6,800 Covid patients are now in English hospitals, compared with more than 12,000 last year.
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.
Total 84 people will continue the work with 21 Borders personnel and 63 Lanarkshire personnel.
Expect their involvement to continue through December 8 in Borders and December 17, in Lanarkshire. However, the timelines are constantly being reviewed.
Additionally, the Army supports the Scottish Ambulance Service by providing non-emergency drivers as well as testing via mobile units.
A statement from the Army stated that more than 450 Armed Forces personnel were supporting several MACA activities in Scotland. Operation Rescript is the British defense’s effort to help the UK respond to the pandemic that began March 2020.
“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.
The hospital had 759 inpatients on Thursday. There was a drop of nine people with Covid-19 and 55 with intensive care.
4,325,523 people received the first Covid-19 shot, while 3,922,893 got their second.