The rate of hospitalisations in London during the Omicron wave of Covid might have peaked, a health boss told BBC Breakfast this morning.
Chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, said in London – the epicentre of the Omicron outbreak – the number of hospitalisations has “dropped significantly” in the last two days.
This may mean the number of hospitalisations in the capital is matching an earlier peak in cases.
READ MORE: London Covid: Latest case rates in all boroughs as 230 Londoners currently on life-saving ventilators
Hopson said: “London has been the epicentre and therefore everyone has been focussing on the London hospitalisation data, and what’s interesting is that last week there was some really scary looking figures.
“So in other words we were seeing increases in the number of Covid-19 patients in London hospitals go up by 9% a day, 15% a day, 9% a day in terms of the 27th, 28th, and 29th of December.
“Interestingly in the last two days, the increases have only been 1% and 2% so they have dropped pretty significantly.
“So there is a hope we might have seen a possible peak and plateau.”
There were significant staff shortages across London’s NHS trusts over Christmas and New Year
(Image: Victoria Jones/PA Wire)
But, he also warned the “future is uncertain” as we don’t yet know the impact of mixing on New Year’s Eve and the return of schools.
Hopson added the pressure on the NHS seen in London before Christmas is now spreading to other hospitals across the UK, coming as news of Lincolnshire hospitals declaring a ‘critical incident’ over ‘extreme’ staff shortages.
“We’re seeing increasing numbers of people coming into hospital, we’re seeing increasing staff absences, and that’s coming on top of a very significant amount of wider pressure,” he added.
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Yesterday data revealed more than 110,000 of the NHS’s 983,000 staff in England missed the turn of the year due to illness, while 30% of all Covid patients on ventilation were in London.
Out of 154 deaths reported yesterday, 13 were in the capital.
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