Our website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

UK hospitals could struggle even if COVID deaths lower this winter – epidemiologist

by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
0 comments
2021 10 05T113309Z 1 LYNXMPEH940L3 RTROPTP 4 HEALTH CORONAVIRUS BRITAIN VACCINE

By Alistair Smout

LONDON (Reuters) – Hospitals may struggle to cope if there is a significant surge of COVID-19 in England this winter even if broad vaccination means that deaths do not approach the same levels as last year, one of Britain’s top epidemiologists told Reuters.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is betting on vaccinating children and giving booster shots to vulnerable adults to avoid a winter COVID-19 lockdown this year. Johnson has locked down England’s economy three times to avoid COVID overwhelming the National Health Service.

Neil Ferguson, director of MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and Jameel Institute, Imperial College London, said that the coming months were uncertain but could put strain on hospitals.

“We’re not completely out of the woods yet. We may yet see a significant surge in infections later in the autumn, into the winter,” Ferguson told Reuters following the launch of the Imperial College London Institute of Infection.

“I’m optimistic in almost any circumstance that we’re not going to see an overwhelming wave of mortality at this point. The more difficult question is around hospital demands. The NHS is already fairly stressed… there isn’t much A&E capacity left.”

England has had an average of around 30,000 daily cases since late July. Ferguson said that such constant case numbers was an unusual pattern, and things could get tougher heading into winter as people spend more time indoors.

He said that immunity in the population was probably waning rather than growing, but that vaccine effectiveness against severe disease was holding up well.

Nevertheless, many could be hospitalised for a night or two, even if vaccination means they don’t need intensive care.

“Every one of those people puts additional demands on the NHS,” he said, adding that mask mandates and work-from-home orders could be needed to reduce hospital stresses even if another full-blown lockdown is “highly unlikely”.

“It’s much more likely that we just roll back on some limited numbers of measures to try and damp down transmission… things short of shutting the country down.”

 

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)