Brits have again been warned to brace themselves for an upsurge in norovirus as cases rise to the highest level seen in hospitals in January since 2020.
Rates of the vomiting bug, which can also cause diarrhoea, are up 80 per cent on the same time last year, fresh figures show.
Some 784 patients a day were in hospital in England with norovirus last week, up on the 650 in the previous week — a rise of over a fifth.
Officials warned that hospitals remain ‘extremely busy’ and urged Brits to keep frequently washing their hands to guard against transmission of the highly contagious virus.
The NHS also remains alarmingly close to capacity with 96 per cent of adult hospital beds occupied, the concerning data revealed today.
92 per cent is the point at which, experts say, performance of staff drops.
Separate surveillance data that monitors England’s flu outbreak, meanwhile, suggests hospital admissions have fallen again on the previous week.
But they are still more than double the level recorded last year.
Norovirus can appear similar the symptoms of Covid, with both viruses causing chills, fever and headaches
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Figures show almost 4,000 beds alone were taken up by flu patients every day last week, including 176 in critical care.
Professor Julian Redhead, NHS National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care, said: ‘NHS hospitals have been hit by a surge in norovirus cases over the last week — with the highest level recorded in any January since 2020.
‘This, along with higher than normal rates of flu and other winter viruses — and continued issues in delays in discharging patients — means hospitals remain extremely busy with patients.
‘Staff are working incredibly hard to see patients as quickly as possible, and it is welcome news that flu cases have now peaked.
‘Patients should continue to use 111 and 111 online if you need advice and support for health conditions and call 999 or go to A&E in life-threatening emergencies.’
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting added: ‘Hospitals up and down the country are still facing significant pressure and patients continue to face unacceptable levels of care this winter.
‘It’s welcome that flu rates are starting to decline and ambulance handovers are improving — but we’re not out of the woods yet.
‘If you’re eligible, it’s not too late to get your flu vaccination – contact your local pharmacy or GP to protect yourself this winter.’
According to the latest NHS weekly hospital figures, norovirus cases are up 21 per cent on the previous week.
Levels remain higher than at this point 12 months ago, when an average of 438 beds were filled by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms.
The figure stood at just 373 in 2023.
An average of 3,833 patients were in hospital with flu last week, the data also showed.
This marks a drop of more than a fifth (22 per cent) on the 4,929 on the previous week but is still higher than this point last winter (1,582) and in 2023 (2,034).
Almost 1,100 beds were also occupied by patients with Covid.
RSV — which is most common in infants and young children — was up 91 per cent on the same period in 2024.
In response to rising rates of norovirus, flu, RSV and Covid — dubbed the ‘quad-demic’ — some hospitals had begun limiting visiting hours and imposed mask mandates.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting said: ‘Hospitals up and down the country are still facing significant pressure and patients continue to face unacceptable levels of care this winter’
Officials warned that hospitals remain ‘extremely busy’ and urged Brits to keep frequently washing their hands to guard against transmission of highly contagious norovirus
Norovirus is usually spread through close contact with someone who is infected, or by touching surfaces or objects, or eating food someone infected has touched.
Health chiefs already advise against relying on hand sanitisers alone to guard against transmission — as alcohol doesn’t kill off the bug.
Most of those infected suffer nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting and recover at home.
But norovirus can pile pressures on hospitals because infected patients need to be isolated in single rooms or wards need to be closed to new patients to contain the spread.
The majority of people will not need to speak to a doctor about a norovirus infection. In most cases, it will clear up on its own.
Rest and having lots of fluid are often recommended by health chiefs to help recover. Paracetamol may also aid a fever or aches and pains.
Many patients also ask doctors for antibiotics, but these are ineffective against viruses.
Separate NHS figures today also found 96 per cent of adult general and acute beds in England were occupied last week.
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It comes as the country’s top doctor, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, warned earlier this week that half the population of England will end up in A&E every year by 2034 if the NHS does not ‘go for broke’ and shift more care from hospitals to the community
Almost one in seven (13,710) were taken up by patients who were medically fit to be discharged — 125 more than the previous week.
This is also the highest number so far this winter.
It comes as the country’s top doctor warned earlier this week that half the population of England will end up in A&E every year by 2034 if the NHS does not ‘go for broke’ and shift more care from hospitals to the community.
In a keynote speech on ‘The current state of the NHS’ at Liverpool Medical Institution, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said: ‘I want to particularly focus today on moving care into the community.
‘Because we know that if A&E attendances increase at the same rate as they have over the past 10 years — NHS staff will need to manage six million more A&E attendances every year from 2034.
‘That would mean the equivalent of almost half the population attend A&E at least once every year – that is simply not feasible for a 21st-century health system.
‘Instead, millions of patients will need to receive the care and support they need outside of hospital.’
A&Es in England faced the busiest year on record in 2024, with 27.42 million attendances across the year – 7.1 per cent higher than in 2023, according to NHS England.
Rough projections suggest there could be 33,505,330 attendances in 2034.
Last week a damning report into the state of the NHS also found dead patients are lying undiscovered for hours in A&E because staff are too overstretched to notice.
The ‘harrowing’ report, published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), also revealed a severe shortage of beds has meant the sick are being left in ‘animal-like’ conditions in hospital car parks, cupboards and toilets.
It featured the testimonies of more than 5,000 nurses, who exposed how patients are being cruelly ‘stripped of their dignity’ and routinely suffering avoidable deaths.
The 460-page dossier said it had become ‘normalised’ for patients to be left for days at a time in chairs or trolleys in ‘inappropriate settings’, rather than on a ward.
Demoralised nurses reported caring for as many as 40 patients in a single corridor – some blocking fire exits or parked next to vending machines.
