The number of Covid patients in hospitals has reached its highest level since mid-February after a 74% rise in a week.
NHS figures updated for the first time since the Christmas break showed there were 1,281 Covid-19 hospital admissions in England on December 25.
This is up 74% week-on-week and the highest number since February 16.
It meant there were a total of 8,474 people in hospital in England with Covid-19 as of 8am on December 27. This is up 27% from a week earlier and is the highest number since March 5.
But the numbers are still way below last January’s peak of 34,336 people in hospital with Covid, despite cases soaring in the wider community.
In London, the epicentre of the current Omicron wave, there were 2,640 Covid patients on December 27, up 45% week-on-week and the highest number since February 22.
There were 364 admissions reported on Christmas Day in the capital, up 73% week-on-week but below the 390 admissions reported on December 23.
The NHS said a number of trusts didn’t report any data due to the holiday season so the figures are likely to be a low estimate.
Health bosses have said Covid admissions to hospital are rising but ‘not precipitately so’. However, they said it is ‘still far too early’ to dismiss concerns about Omicron.
Staff absences are creating such pressure that ‘even relatively small numbers of extra Covid cases may bring difficult decisions on prioritisation and staff redeployment’, according to NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson.
Medical leaders have expressed fears that ‘something is going to have to give’ as one modeller said as many as 40% of London’s NHS workforce could be absent, with Covid-19 a major factor, in a worst-case scenario.
In a statement, Mr Hopson said: ‘Trust leaders are watching their current hospital admissions data very closely.
‘Talking to chief executives this morning, the sense is that admissions are rising but not precipitately so.
‘What’s particularly interesting is how many chief executives are talking about the number of asymptomatic patients being admitted to hospital for other reasons and then testing positive for Covid.
‘Trusts are not, at the moment, reporting large numbers of patients with Covid type respiratory problems needing critical care or massively increased use of oxygen, both of which we saw in last January’s Delta variant peak.
‘We should therefore be cautious about over interpreting current Covid admission data.
‘As the Covid community infection rate rises rapidly due to Omicron, we will get significantly more cases of incidental Covid in hospital.’
Mr Hopson said staff absences, along with the accelerated booster campaign and urgent care that could not be put off, meant there was pressure ‘being felt right across GPs, social care, ambulances and community and mental health services as well as hospitals’.
‘It is therefore still far too early to say that we no longer need to worry about Omicron and hospitalisations.
‘Trusts are still preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,’ he added.
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