The UK has recorded the highest daily Covid-19 cases for the fourth day in a row, according to official data updated by British authorities today, which is having an impact on the absence of health professionals.
In the last 24 hours, 189,849 new infections and 203 deaths were identified, compared to 189,213 cases and 332 deaths on Thursday.
In the last seven days, from 25 to 31 December, the daily average was 150,258 cases and 110 deaths, an increase of 48.7% in the number of infections and a 5.3% decrease in the number of deaths in the previous seven days.
The acceleration of alleged infections by the Omicron variant reaches health professionals, with the number of those absent in the UK doubling in a month due to infection or dangerous contact, rising from 12,000 at the end of November to 24,000 on the 26th of December.
Other public services such as transportation and fire services have also been affected.
As the number of patients admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 reached 11,898 on Wednesday, that staff shortage has been at an all-time high since the beginning of March last year, an increase of 40% in a week.
According to the latest estimates by the National Statistics Office (ONS) based on the population model, 2.3 million people were affected last week.
It was 1 in 25 in the UK, 1 in 45 last week and 1 in 15 in London.
Unlike the authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the British government decided not to impose any restrictions on the UK until the New Year, calling for the opening of clubs and bars “with caution”.
Although there is no formal ban on Scotland crossing the border to celebrate the New Year, Scottish Deputy Prime Minister John Swinney has warned that travel is a “wrong move”.
In New Year’s news, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said booster vaccines were available to all adults by the end of December, although only 70% were actually vaccinated.
The Conservative leader, who stressed that the current situation due to the vaccine was “relatively better than last year”, urged people to get vaccinated, adding that the New Year’s resolution was “much easier to comply with than to lose weight or keep a diary”.
Although the number of deaths and patients in the intensive care unit is stable, the increase in the number of hospital admissions is worrying, so health services have announced preparations to set up temporary structures with hundreds of extra beds in case of emergency.
Chris Hobson, a spokesman for the British Hospitals, told The Times that “there is a high guarantee that there will be a significant number of seriously ill elderly people (between hospitalizations)”, but that this could change after the Christmas holidays.
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