Covid-19 UK: Winter wave picks up pace as hospital admissions soar by a third
Daily MailEngland's Covid hospitalisations have surged by a third in a week, official figures revealed today amid warnings that the NHS will be battered by flu. It was the first time cases breached 1million since November 1 and was up 16 per cent on the 941,700 recorded the week before UK Health Security Agency show 965 coronavirus patients were admitted on Monday, up from 724 the week before The number of patients with Covid in English hospitals increased to 6,720 on Wednesday, up 22 per cent on the 5,501 in beds the week before But the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care is not nearly as high, with 150 on mechanical ventilation beds on the same day. It was up more than a quarter a quarter on the 119 recorded a week before The figures are the latest sign that flu is becoming steadily more prevalent among the population NHS is put on alert for 'worst winter flu outbreak in years' The NHS has been put on alert for the 'worst winter flu outbreak in years' after hospital admissions for the virus surged by 40 per cent in the space of a week. According to NHS data the rate of flu admissions stood at 6.8 per 100,000 people in the week to December 11 - nearly doubling from 3.9 per 100,000 the week before - while for the same week there was 6.6 per 100,000 for Covid. Meanwhile, today's ONS data show Covid cases, meanwhile, are continuing to increase in all four nations of the UK In England, Covid was most prevalent in adults aged 25 to 34, with 2.9 per cent infected on any given day during the week.