LONDON — Britain on Tuesday faced warnings of an
impending hospital crisis due to staff shortages caused by a wave of
Omicron infections, as the country returned to work after Christmas.
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Daily case numbers chalked up multiple records in the run-up
to
New Year, with Prime Minister
Boris Johnson promising action to plug
staffing gaps in the worst-hit areas.
Hospital admissions have not hit anything like the peaks of
previous waves of the pandemic and the number of people requiring ventilation
has remained flat so far.
But the state-run
National Health Service (NHS), which is
regularly under strain during the winter months from seasonal respiratory
infections, is struggling with staff forced to stay at home after testing
positive.
Transport networks also battled absences, leaving commuters
facing long waits on their return to work, while other public services such as
household bin collections were hampered.
Minister for vaccines and public health Maggie Throup told
Sky News it was unclear how many Britons were currently in self-isolation after
the Christmas surge in the highly transmissible virus mutation.
"But what is good news, it doesn't seem to be resulting
in severe diseases as some of the other variants did," she told Sky News.
Around 50,000 NHS staff were absent from work last week
because they were ill or self-isolating, The Sunday Times has reported.
At least six hospital trusts have declared critical
incidents, which mean crucial services may be under threat.
'Almost impossible'
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation
which represents healthcare providers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland,
said cases appeared to have levelled off in London.
But he told Times Radio that staff shortages and rising
cases across the rest of the country were a concern.
"The unpredictability of staff absence means NHS
leaders having to work around the clock just thinking about how they can deploy
their resources best to deal with the most urgent and pressing needs," he
added.
"Even using all their imagination and creativity, it is
becoming almost impossible, which is why we see hospitals declaring critical
incidents."
Anyone testing positive for the virus has to self-isolate
for 10 days, or seven days if they produce a negative test.
There have been calls to ease those restrictions for health
staff to ease what Johnson on Monday said was "considerable pressure"
on hospitals.
Taylor said reducing the self-isolation period to five days
should only be done if the data indicated it was "absolutely safe".
Pupils returning to school also faced the prospect of mass
staff absences and merged classes.
Secondary school pupils have been advised to wear face masks
in class as a "temporary" measure.
Britain has seen nearly 149,000 deaths since the start of
the pandemic in early 2020 and Johnson has defended his decision not to
increase restrictions over Christmas in
England, unlike in other parts of the
UK.
A review of restrictions is expected this week.
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