Hospitals likely to be ‘overwhelmed’ by omicron, government adviser warns

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Professor Graham Medley, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said he was worried the number of people being admitted to hospital could “get very large” if omicron infections continue to soar and spill into older age groups. You certainly can’t put a risk or probability on them – but that is one of the more likely things that could happen.” England’s chief medical office Professor Chris Whitty has warned a “significant increase in hospitalisations” is coming from omicron, with Boris Johnson telling his ministers to expect a “huge spike” in infections. “We’re probably now at the level that we have been at the past, sort of back in January, and it does look as though it’s going to continue beyond that and go over it.” The Sage expert, who was speaking in a personal capacity, said there was not currently any good information on the severity of omicron, but added: “The fact that we are much more immune than we were generally means that the virus will appear to be much less severe.” Prof Medley, who is also chair of the government’s Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, said it was a “million-dollar question” over how this would affect the health service. Asked if hospitals could end up overwhelmed, he said: “I think that that is a very real possibility.” Prof Medley said: “If the numbers of infections increasing continues in the way that it has done, and it spills out into older age groups, then we could see numbers of people being admitted to hospital getting very large and certainly going over the 1,000 – maybe up to 2,000 a day – that we’ve managed to keep the delta variant below.” The expert said there have been around 800 hospital admissions per day for the past five months but “if we’d had all those in one month then.