NHS braces itself as 10 people in hospital with Omicron

NHS braces itself as 10 people are already in hospital with the Omicron variant.

The NHS is bracing itself for a wave of the omicron variant and an increase in hospital admissions. NHS bosses have warned that the current pressure being placed on the service is “not sustainable.”

Speaking to Sky News Health Secretary Sajid Javid was quizzed on the number of people with omicron in hospital. He stated: “In England, there’s about 10 people that are confirmed, in England, with Omicron.” Javid has not confirmed if anyone has died yet due to the variant but he commented that before a COVID death there is usually a time “lag”.

Boris Johnson has confirmed that the omicron strain is doubling the number of cases every 2 to 3 days.  He expects the UK to face a “tidal wave” of infections due to the new variant. At the moment it is not clear whether the new variant is less severe than previous variants.

Speaking to Sky News Chris Hopson chief executive of NHS Providers explained that the NHS is “busier than its ever been before.”

He went on to add: “That’s obviously a worry because it’s before the traditional winter peak in January and it’s before any cases really coming into hospitals and we are now starting to do in terms of Omicron cases, so we’re already at beyond full stretch, in our view, before either of those things occur so it’s a worrying time, but as you’d expect everybody on the NHS frontline is doing absolutely the best they can to provide the best possible care.”

Mr Hopson believes that the level of pressure is unsustainable. He commented: “I think staff are worried, to be frank, that this level of pressure is going to become normalised and it’s not sustainable.”


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Alex
Written by

Alex Glenn

Originally from the UK, Alex is based in Almeria and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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