People should stay home over the Christmas period if they have symptoms of flu or Covid, experts have warned, amid fears that flu cases could see a second surge in the New Year. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said flu levels appear to be plateauing, but it is too soon to say whether they have peaked.
An average of 3,140 people were in hospital with flu each day by the end of last week, an increase of 18% compared with the previous week. At the same time last year, an average of 2,629 patients were in hospital, while in 2023 the number was 648. However, flu cases have begun to slow in some parts of the country, although the NHS has emphasised that the service is “not out of the woods”.
In the north-west of England, hospital cases of flu fell by 4% over the past week. But flu cases continued to rise in other parts of England, with patients in hospital up 39% in the east of England and 40% in the south-west. The figures come as resident doctors in England begin the second of five days of strikes over a pay dispute.
Prof Meghana Pandit, the NHS England national medical director, said although flu cases were not rising as quickly as feared across some parts of the country, the NHS was “nowhere near out of the woods yet”. “Combined with the impact of strikes, a stream of winter viruses means many hospitals will be on high alert in the days ahead,” Pandit said. “But it remains vital that people continue to come forward for NHS care as normal.”
Critical care beds were occupied by 128 flu patients across England last week, up from 106 the week before. An average of 427 hospital beds were also filled each day last week by patients with diarrhoea, vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms, an increase of more than a fifth (21%) compared with last week.
Dr Alex Allen, a consultant epidemiologist at the UKHSA, said: “With Christmas just around the corner, it’s reassuring to see that flu levels are now starting to stabilise, but flu is notoriously unpredictable and can bounce back and peak a second time in the new year, and so we’re urging people to continue taking sensible steps over the festive period to help stop the spread.”
