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Britain faces hosp crisis, as covid cases top 200k
By Nidz Godino
“So anyone who thinks our battle with COVID is over, I’m afraid, is profoundly wrong…this is moment for utmost caution,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said British hospitals have switched to “war footing” due to staff shortages caused by wave of omicron infections, as the country’s daily COVID-19 caseload breached 200,000 for the first time.
The 24-hour tally, after chalking up multiple records in the run-up to New Year, hit 218,724 and another 48 deaths were reported in the latest government data.
Hospital admissions have not hit anything like the peaks of previous waves of the pandemic, and the number of people requiring ventilation has remained flat so far.
But state-run National Health Service (NHS) is struggling with staff forced to stay at home after testing positive, and Johnson promised action to plug staffing gaps in the worst-hit areas.
Reactivation of emergency “Nightingale” clinics, along with drafting of medical volunteers backed by army support, meant NHS was back on a “war footing”, Johnson told a news conference.
He ruled out another nationwide lockdown, crediting mass vaccinations including recent program of booster shots, as NHS marked a year since administering first Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.
Transport networks also battled absences, leaving commuters facing long waits on their return to work after a public holiday on Monday, while municipal services such as household bin collections were hampered.
Johnson said new program of daily testing for 100,000 “critical workers”, including in transport and food processing, would help Britain “ride out this omicron wave”.
Vaccines minister Maggie Throup said unclear how many Britons were currently in self-isolation after a Christmas surge in the highly transmissible virus mutation.
“But what is good news, it doesn’t seem to be resulting in severe diseases as some of the other variants did,” Throup said.
Around 50,000 NHS staff were reportedly absent from work last week because they were ill or self-isolating.
At least 6 hospital groups have declared “critical incidents”, which mean crucial services may be under threat. One hospital in Plymouth, southwest England, reported that nearly 500 staff were absent.
NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor, which represents healthcare providers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said cases appeared to have leveled off in London.
But he told media that staff shortages and rising cases across the rest of the country were a concern.
“The unpredictability of staff absence means NHS leaders having to work around the clock just thinking about how they can deploy their resources best to deal with most urgent and pressing needs, even using all their imagination and creativity, it is becoming almost impossible, which is why we see hospitals declaring critical incidents ” Taylor added.
Anyone testing positive for the virus has to self-isolate for 10 days, or 7 days if they produce negative test.
There have been calls to ease those restrictions for health staff. But Health Secretary Sajid Javid on Tuesday ruled that out.
Pupils returning to school also faced the prospect of mass staff absences and merged classes.
Secondary school pupils have been told to wear face masks in class as a “temporary” measure.
Britain has suffered nearly 149,000 deaths since the start of pandemic in early 2020. But Johnson defended his decision not to increase restrictions over Christmas in England, unlike in other parts of UK.
“We clearly can’t rule anything out…but what we’re trying to do is take balanced approach,” Taylor concluded.
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