According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, an estimated 2.71 million people in the UK had Covid in the last week of June, an 18% increase on the previous week. In England alone, the latest figures show that around one in 25 people have had a Covid infection. Hospitalizations with Covid are also on the rise, with figures for 30 June revealing there were 11,316 people in hospital with Covid in the UK, up from 8,350 on 23 June. The number of people being hospitalized mainly due to Covid is also rising, with 3,749 such patients in England on July 5, up from 2,877 the previous Tuesday. Dr David Strain, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter’s medical school, said he had seen an increase in people coming to hospital due to Covid, with patients experiencing breathing problems or delirium as a result of the infection. Strain noted that the rise in infections was also having a knock-on effect, with staff absences due to Covid adding to other workforce problems caused by Brexit, pension disputes and burnout. “We have unprecedented staff sickness,” Strain said. “We have continued to turn away people with long Covid from the first three waves [and now] with very high transmission we have a lot of staff absences [among people] that have been contracted [Covid] in the current round”. Strain said policy changes regarding patient testing and mask use in the hospital contributed to the challenges of rising infections. “This wave, driven by the highly contagious BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants, started hitting us right around the time there was significant government pressure to stop wearing masks in the hospital because of the way it appeared. And therefore, for a very short period, there was also quite a bit of transmission in the hospital,” he said. One issue raised by Strain is that patients cannot be discharged to care centers if they have or have been exposed to Covid. If an infected visitor enters a ward, he noted, an entire bay of otherwise benign patients could not be discharged, meaning their beds are not available for new patients. “We’re back to a position where we have to cancel procedures because patients are in Covid beds,” he said. “We have a population that we haven’t done our best for because we’re taking care of Covid. Just as we were well on our way to starting to make up lost ground, we’re back to waiting lists that are getting longer instead of shorter.” Dr Naru Narayanan, president of the HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union – said he was extremely concerned about the rise in Covid cases at the hospital, adding that he was hearing stories across the country of increasing staff absenteeism due to Covid. “NHS staff are already under intense pressure amid a workforce crisis and morale is at rock bottom,” he said. “Exhausted staff are being stepped up to ensure patient care does not suffer, but every week is a battle to make ends meet. The wisdom of standardizing infection control procedures and removing face masks now seems decidedly lacking.” Professor Phil Banfield, chairman of the BMA board, said action was needed and called for the return of mask use for patients, regular testing of NHS staff and staff access to high-quality PPE. He said the government had a responsibility to ensure the public remained well informed about the dangers of Covid. “In the absence of strong public health messages, we believe it is important for the public to take a cautious approach at this time, such as wearing masks indoors and taking steps to limit exposure to the virus where possible,” he said. . Such actions are not only about alleviating immediate pressures on the health service, he warned, but also about long-term effects. Banfield called on the government to develop a long-term strategy to deal with the impact of Covid. “Part of that must include reversing their decision to end special enhanced leave for NHS staff who are long-term absent with Covid,” he said.
