Health Care Systems In UK Braces Themselves For Next Wave

Omicron, which was first found in South Africa in mid-November, has now made its way to all parts of the world in a short span of time. The UK is one of the worst-hit countries wherein the new variant – Omicron is doubling every other day, putting additional pressure on the government and the health care system.

Health Care Systems In UK Braces Themselves For Next Wave

The National Health Service in the UK stated that there was a 44% increase in hospitalization since last week and as many as 11,900 people had been admitted this week alone. Another great deal of concern is the rising death rate wherein the UK reported 332 deaths which is the highest number since their peak in March. Many of the health care officials have stated that even though the numbers are high it is still low as compared to the delta surge.

The UK has reported as much as a 58% increase in the number of cases as well with one week`s record being 189,000.

Most of the people are now vaccinated as compared to the previous surge and the death rate is also low, but since Omicron spreads at an exponential rate it could disrupt the working of the health care systems.

Stephen Powis who is the director for National Health Service stated that even though there are only mild symptoms with Omicron, the researchers are not yet sure as to how many people who get infected would be needing hospitalization. Due to this issue, 8 hospitals that can treat up to 100 people would be setting up a jumbo clinic that can host as many as 4000 beds. Powis stated that this is just a precaution as the government would be better prepared than sorry at this stage of the fight against the virus.

The UK, which had sanctioned the implementation of booster shots, stated that around 58% of the population over the age of 12 has received their booster shots. This puts good results for the UK as booster shots are known to be providing better protection against the new variant as well. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked all the people who are yet to be vaccinated to take the first dose as every vaccine counts against the virus.

The Prime Minister has not imposed any restrictions on restaurants or parties during the holiday season. A government official stated that locking people in their homes won’t make the virus go away. The only way to break this chain is to follow social distancing and by taking their vaccine. Many of the people stated that not putting a restriction is a smart move as this could put a grave impact on the livelihood of many people.

Many of the businesses have suffered huge losses in the first lockdown and going through it again would put them out of business.

Many of the countries have now put additional restrictions on people coming from the UK and are now being asked to present a negative RT-PCR test result along with the vaccination certificate. Apart from this many of the flights have now been canceled and passengers are stuck at many places. This is because many of the airline staff are also infected with Omicron.

Airlines stated that pilots are one of the key people who are needed for the travel to happen. The airline industry cannot ask their pilots to work overtime as their concentration would be lost and this is not good for their health as well. The airline industry stated that they are trying to compensate for people`s losses and are also providing alternate travel routes for their destinations as well. As per reports, as many as 7,800 flights from and to the US had been canceled on Thursday alone.