Ministers could champion the use of masks, working from home and social distancing to ease pressures on the NHS, as some experts call on Britons to start adopting Covid-era measures already.
The NHS is facing record winter pressures due to rising Covid and flu rates, staff shortages and too few beds, while experts fear a sub-variant of Omicron could lead to a rise in infections, further increasing the pressure on the already paralyzed health service.
Health chiefs and scientists have already advised adults and students to stay at home if they are unwell, to wear masks if they must go out when they are sick, and have called for an expanded deployment of reinforcements to to ease the demand on the NHS.
Now, ministers are said to be considering issuing new guidelines for wearing masks on public transport, working from home and social distancing if the health service is “at risk of collapse”. Hospital bosses have already warned that the crisis will continue until Easter.
And some experts are advising Britons to start limiting their contacts and not going into the office to limit the spread of winter viruses.
Pictured: People wearing face masks on the London Underground on January 4 after new advice was issued to slow the rise in infections as flu and Covid numbers rise
Pictured: People wearing face masks on the London Underground on January 4 after new advice was issued to slow the rise in infections as flu and Covid numbers rise
Pictured: London shoppers wearing face masks in shops on Oxford Street on January 3
Pictured: London shoppers wearing face masks in shops on Oxford Street on January 3
Pictured: People wearing face masks on the London Underground on January 3 after new advice was issued to slow the rise in infections as flu and Covid numbers rise
Official sources have suggested the Government could issue new advice for the public to wear face masks on public transport and work from home.
A “well-placed” source told the i that there is a “list of potential measures” under consideration. However, they are not expected to include school lockdowns or closures and no advisory will be mandatory or legally enforceable.
They said: “Softer and less intrusive measures could soon be introduced if the NHS is at risk of collapse.”
“While the guidance is for sick people to wear face masks if they already leave their homes, wearing a mask may once again be the guidance for everyone using public transport.”
The UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) has issued fresh calls this week for unwell Britons to stay at home and wear masks if they must venture outdoors. They also said that children who are unwell and have a fever — classified as 38 C or higher — should stay home until they feel better.
The advice was backed by Transport Secretary Mark Harper, who previously defended the Covid restrictions. He said yesterday that it would be “very sensible” for people who have Covid or flu to wear a mask.
However, some Tory MPs have branded the advice “crazy” and said face coverings “make no difference to the transmission of a virus”.
An independent government source told the news website: “We’re not there yet, but instructions for everyone, sick or not, to wear face masks on public transport really won’t bother people.
“It would also make perfect sense to ask people who can work from home to do so if the NHS needs us all to support them during this busy time of year.”
According to the i.
But some experts are already calling on Britons to follow the restrictions reminiscent of the pandemic.
Professor Sam Wilson, a virologist at the University of Glasgow, said “taking family Covid precautions” will help limit the spread of Covid.
He told The Guardian: “Regardless of the impact of a new variant, the NHS is already under tremendous pressure from a cocktail of different viruses this winter.
“Wherever possible, taking voluntary steps to reduce transmission – reducing contact, wearing high-quality masks in crowded indoor spaces and isolating if you have symptoms – will help reduce pressure on the NHS.”
Dr Stephen Griffin, an infectious disease expert at the University of Leeds, told MailOnline that he “fully approves” of limiting contacts.
He said: “I would advise people to limit contact where possible, work from home if possible and not socialize at all if unwell.
“Naturally, not everyone can afford it due to the lack of support for insulation today.
“Tests are ideal if you can get access to them, which is also increasingly difficult these days.
“In poorly ventilated areas, including most public transportation, a well-fitting filtering mask is the best protection for you and others.”
Dr Griffin said the Omicron variant XBB.1.5, which is fueling a surge in cases in the US and was behind at least one in 25 cases of Covid in the UK in the week before Christmas, is “highly antibody evasive and more highly transmissible”.
He added: “As a result, it is growing rapidly, but we already have a high prevalence of existing viruses which, combined with resurgent flu, is putting incredible strain on the NHS.
The flu has swept through the NHS in England, the latest round of health service data shows, with more than 3,800 admissions for the virus on 23 December. The graph shows the number of beds in wards occupied by people with flu (red) and the number of beds occupied due to the virus in intensive care (blue)
The latest daily Covid admission data shows that almost 1,300 people infected with the virus were hospitalized on 19 December. The figure increases by a third week on weekdays.
Figures show the number of people infected with Covid occupying beds in England’s wards soared above 8,600 on 21 December. The number has increased by 29 percent in one week
The UK’s Health Safety Agency issued fresh calls this week for unwell Britons to stay at home and wear masks if they must venture outdoors. They also said that children who are unwell and have a fever — classified as 38 C or higher — should stay home until they feel better.
Pharmacists ‘to treat more illnesses’ as the government considers giving them more powers to ease pressure on waiting times for GPs and GPs and A&Es.
Rishi Sunak is expected to outline his long-term plan to rescue the NHS later this month, focusing on reducing waiting times for GPs, ambulances and A&E treatment
“These pressures are exposing the fragility of the NHS infrastructure caused by 12 years of under-resourcing.
“Once again we have entered another avoidable crisis.
“It pains me that the Government is able to accept this, or even pretend that this constitutes ‘living with’ Covid, or any other disease.”
Professor Martin McKee, president of the British Medical Association and a public health expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told MailOnline: ‘When the NHS is facing unprecedented pressure from respiratory infections, anything what we can do to reduce them makes even more sense. than normal.’
The NHS crisis has seen patients face record delays in A&E this winter, with some reports of waiting up to four days for a bed, while others are treated in cupboards, corridors, meeting rooms and even outside hospitals.
Doctors have described “Dickensian saturation” in emergency departments, with some staff forced to ask seriously ill patients to monitor their own vital signs.
Last week, one in five ambulance patients in England waited more than an hour to be handed over to A&E teams.
In a bid to boost “atrocious” response times, London Ambulance Service yesterday ordered its crews to leave 999 patients in chairs or trolleys, raising patient safety fears among some doctors.
Some hospitals have canceled all appointments and operations deemed “non-urgent”, with leaders warning more hospitals will follow suit, and others have reported running out of oxygen.
Experts have called for the re-opening of Army-staffed Nightingale hospitals built during the pandemic but which have seen little use, to support the ailing health service.
Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), said up to 500 patients could be dying each week while waiting in overcrowded emergency rooms.
NHS bosses have warned that the crisis could continue until Easter.
The health service has blamed the ongoing pressures in part on labor shortages, with 130,000 vacancies across its workforce. In addition, staff absences are increasing.
It is also battling a ‘twindemic’ of flu and Covid, with an average of 3,746 flu patients in hospital each day last week, seven times more in a month. Some 8,600 Covid patients were occupying beds on December 21, 84% more than last month. Health chiefs have warned today that flu and Covid cases are expected to continue to rise throughout January.
Adding to the crisis is the fact that 12,000 hospital beds were occupied by ‘bed blockers’ in the last week.
Demand for A&E has also soared due to difficulties accessing GPs. One in five patients who couldn’t get an in-person appointment in December turned up at hospitals, according to the Liberal Democrat survey.
In addition to these pressures, experts have warned that the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant will increase demand on the health service.
The strain has gained mutations that help it avoid Covid-fighting antibodies generated in response to vaccination or a previous infection.
Figures from the Sanger Institute, one of the country’s biggest Covid surveillance centres, suggest that at least 4% of cases in England in the week to December 17 were caused by XBB.1.5.
The situation led to Labor MP Rachael Maskell yesterday calling for mandatory isolation for people infected with Covid, saying we “need” those with the virus to stay at home.
He added that the test point, one of the…