Covid passes 'to be scrapped' by end of month as Omicron wave falls
Health Secretary Sajid Javid is believed to have told MPs that he shared their 'instinctive discomfort' at the Covid passes, which 100 Tories voted against.
Friday 14 January 2022 GB News
The much disputed Covid passes will be scrapped in England this month as the country's Omicron wave continues to fall, it was said today.Health Secretary Sajid Javid is believed to have told MPs that he shared their 'instinctive discomfort' at the Covid passes, which 100 Tories voted against.
MPs are also eager to get rid of working from home guidance when the current Plan B restrictions are reviewed on January 26.
It could imply that mandatory masks on public transport and in stores will be the only remaining restriction.
The number of people in hospital in the UK with Covid-19 has fallen for the second day in a row, with 19,721 patients recorded on January 12, the latest Government figures show.
This is still higher than the number a week earlier, but is down from 19,864 on January 10.
During the second wave of coronavirus last winter, the number of patients peaked at 39,254 on January 18 2021.
There were 2,184 Covid-19 hospital admissions on January 9, the latest date for which figures are available, below the recent peak of 2,599 on December 29.
Separate figures, also published on Thursday, showed that 80 of the 135 acute trusts in England which submitted data had bed occupancy levels above 90% every day in the week to January 9 above the recommended limit of 85%.
Both Warwickshire’s George Eliot Hospital Trust and the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Foundation Trust in Greater Manchester had general and acute bed occupancy levels of 100%.
The figures show that the George Eliot’s general and acute beds were full from January 6 to 9, while Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh had 100% bed occupancy on six days since the start of the month.
This is coupled with high levels of staff being absent due to Covid, with the latest figures showing a 2% rise week on week between January 2 and 9.
But while overall 40,031 NHS staff at hospital trusts in England were absent for Covid-19 reasons on January 9, the daily data suggests that, after reaching a peak of 49,941 on January 5, the numbers have dropped every day since then.
The new data shows regional differences, though most of the regions of England are seeing a drop in absent staff.
The figures suggest one in 25 (4%) of NHS staff working in acute hospital trusts are off sick or self-isolating due to Covid, based on NHS Digital monthly workforce data for September for acute trusts – the most recent available.
Chesterfield Royal Hospital Foundation Trust had the highest proportion of staff off due to Covid on January 9 based on its September headcount, at 11%.
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital Foundation Trust in Birmingham; Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Foundation Trust; North Tees and Hartlepool Foundation Trust; University Hospitals of Leicester Foundation Trust; Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust; and Royal United Hospitals Bath Foundation Trust were all at 8%.
Nuffield Trust deputy director of research Sarah Scobie said: “The latest data shows substantial and damaging levels of staff absences.
“On average, over 88,500 staff were absent every day across NHS hospitals in the week ending January 9, an increase of 10% from the previous week.
“Absences of this scale are impacting the availability of staff and beds, as well as the safe and effective running of services.”
Original article here