A surge of winter flu and coronavirus cases could create a “perfect storm” that ruins plans to treat the backlog of patients waiting for surgeries and other procedures, health workers fear.
“We know the NHS faces a perfect storm of Covid-19, flu and other respiratory illnesses as well as a growing backlog of care,” NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said.
Around four in five NHS trust leaders in England are extremely or moderately concerned about additional pressure in coming months, according to an NHS Providers survey. Almost 90 per cent say that they expect another surge of Covid-19 cases.
Meanwhile, the number of hospital patients on ventilation beds has jumped up by more than 40 per cent in the last week.
The figure is a “strong indication” of the renewed impact of Covid-19, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers Saffron Cordery said.
“If we look at the recent stats, the number of people of ventilation beds has gone up 41% in the last week, so that’s a really strong indication of how Covid is impacting again,” she told BBC Breakfast.
Swinney: ‘Caution’ needed for the ‘foreseeable future’
People will have to continue taking precautions against coronavirus for the “foreseeable future”, the deputy first minister of Scotland has warned.
John Swinney told BBC Radio Scotland that even beyond 9 August, the date on which all remaining lockdown restrictions are set to be lifted in Scotland, people will need to “exercise due care and attention and caution”.
“Covid is going to be with us for a long time to come,” he said, adding that people should continue to take precautions like social distancing and mask-wearing “in some circumstances”.
Joanna Taylor23 June 2021 10:45
Nadhim Zahawi to lead briefing at 5pm
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi will lead a Number 10 press conference at 5pm. It is reportedly expected to focus on vaccine uptake.
Joanna Taylor23 June 2021 10:39
Mask-wearing and social distancing should remain in place in areas where there are high infection rates as new variants emerge, a special envoy on Covid-19 for the World Health Organisation has said.
Dr David Nabarro told Sky News that the measures will still be needed until we can be “sure” that vaccination will protect us.
“Right now, we can’t say that,” he said.
“Variants are going to go on coming. That’s part of life.
“I’m going to suggest that the physical distancing part of one metre plus and mask wearing will be necessary, particularly in places where there’s a lot of virus.”
He added: “Every single workplace” should be asking themselves whether it is right to stop wearing masks and socially distancing from each other.
Joanna Taylor23 June 2021 10:27
Millions more become millionaires during pandemic as property prices soar
More than five million people worldwide became millionaires last year, despite the economic disruption caused by coronavirus.
Household wealth also increased to another record in 2020, thanks to soaring house prices and the stock market, the latest global wealth report by Credit Suisse has revealed.
Joanna Taylor23 June 2021 10:12
Crowds at football matches sends a confusing message to fans, scientist warns
Large crowds “rammed together” at football matches send a confusing message to fans at home – despite the fact that it’s “people at home not taking precautions” who are more likely to drive infections up, an adviser to the government has said.
Professor Stephen Reicher, who advises a Sage subcommittee on behavioural science, told BBC Radio 4’s Today that allowing crowds of fans to gather in stadiums makes it “very hard” to ask others to follow current restrictions.
“If we live in a society which tells us ‘well, it’s fine for 60,000 people to meet at Wembley’, it’s very hard at the same time to say to people, ‘look, there’s still a pandemic out there, and we’ve still got to be careful’,” he said.
But, he added, the “major problem” with football is “people meeting up at home” and forgetting restrictions such as the rule of six indoors.
“I saw data yesterday from Scotland showing that whereas two or three weeks ago, the ratio of males and females, men and women, who get infections is roughly the same, now it’s about three times higher for younger men, and the obvious explanation for that is people meeting up at home, forgetting restrictions,” he said.
“But the point is that 60,000 people at the match sends a message to 60 million, which is ‘well if they can all meet together why can’t we? If they’re rammed together and leaping up and down and hugging each other when a goal is scored, why shouldn’t we?’”
Joanna Taylor23 June 2021 10:02
Opinion: Why we need to throw tourism a lifeline right now, with a travel day of action
The way foreign travel has been dealt with since the beginning of the pandemic has caused much distress for everyone in the industry.
First we had the unchecked, open borders, then the finger pointing and extreme travel shaming, followed by a traffic light system where colours flash from one to another like a disco strobe.
Third wave ‘more like a bump’, scientist claims
The UK is in a third wave of coronavirus – but it is “more like a bump”, a scientist has claimed.
Brendan Wren, professor of vaccinology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told Sky News: “We are in a third wave but it’s not as bad, it’s more like a bump rather than a huge increase.
“We have a different population to what we had in the first or second wave so we shouldn’t be so fearful.”
Joanna Taylor23 June 2021 09:32
‘Important people’ can skip quarantine, minister claims
Important people can skip quarantine when they arrive in the UK, according to media minister John Whittingdale.
Asked why players and officials coming to London for the Euros final on 11 July should be allowed to attend without self-isolating, Mr Whittingdale said: “We’ve always said that for some people who are important, players, for instance …” before being cut off by Sky News’s Kay Burley.
“So people who want to go on holiday are not important. Is that what you’re saying?” she asked.
He responded: “No of course not. We’re talking a very limited number of people who are coming in and they’re also subject still to quite significant restrictions.
“They’re not just able to travel around Britain. They come in to attend a match then go away again.”
Joanna Taylor23 June 2021 09:12
Mass event data ‘to be published soon’
The government has said that it will publish the results of mass event trials before the the final phase of unlocking, currently scheduled for next month.
Media minister John Whittingdale told Sky News that the data from events such as the FA Cup final and the Brit Awards needs “a lot of analysis”, but added that it will be published “before we announce the next steps”.
Ministers have been accused of “hiding” the data because it could imply that the prime minister was wrong to delay the end of lockdown restrictions – which was dismissed as a “conspiracy theory”.
Joanna Taylor23 June 2021 09:05
NHS could face ‘significant flu epidemic’ in winter, Sage scientist says
The NHS must be prepared for “potentially quite a significant flu epidemic” this winter, professor Neil Ferguson has said.
“I think we do need to be prepared for potentially quite a significant flu epidemic probably late this year, early next year,” the Sage scientist told BBC Radio 4’s Today.
“Nobody got infected basically with flu last year and so immunity has dropped a little.”
Joanna Taylor23 June 2021 08:57
