More than 10,000 Covid positive patients are now in hospital beds across England, new figures show.
The latest figures for Covid hospital admissions show the number of positive patients in hospital was up by 37 per cent on Monday compared to the week prior.
The latest hospital figures come after health offiicals have warned the UK could face a triple threat of Covid, flu and monkeypox.
Scientists have called for Covid vaccines to be urgently updated to target new variants, as infection rates soared to almost record levels.
NHS data published Monday showed number of new admissions increased to 1,374 on 2 July from 1276 in the week prior.
The average number of daily admissions over 7 days increased by 32 per cent week on week, the figures show.
Covid positive patients within critical care units also continued to increase and were up from 192 on 27 July to 223 on Monday 4 July.
According to an analysis by the Covid-19 Actuaries Group if compared to the wave in March and April, England is at two thirds of its previous peak.
Last week The Independent revealed hospitals had begun to u-turn on decisions to drop face masks in hospital. Following initial stories more hospitals have announced they are introducing the requirement.
Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust said on Monday: “As new sub-variants (BA.4 and BA.5) have driven rising cases and hospital admissions both locally and across the UK, there have been steady increases in the number of healthcare staff testing positive, adding to additional strain on resources.”
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency, warned last week the UK faces an early flu season ahead of another Covid wave in the autumn. This is alongside growning monkeypox infections.
The Dr Hopkins said: “While we normally don’t see influenza really kick off until the end of November to December, that might happen as early as late September-October – that’s what we’re planning for.”
She said that she and her colleagues are watching Australia “very, very carefully”, as flu season there started early and rose quickly among all age groups.
She added: “We will see at least one Covid wave in the autumn-winter, once we have got through the current wave,” Ms Hopkins added. “And for the next six months at least, we will have ongoing community transmission of monkeypox.”
