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NEWS: Viral infection ‘endemic’ as cases surge

COVID-19 infection may now be endemic in poor areas of the UK, a public health expert said as the daily infection rate surged.

It came as a new analysis identified six English hospitals that would be “overwhelmed” by a resurgence of the pandemic. The town of Bolton, Lancashire, tightened its lockdown over the weekend as it reached a rate of 99 cases of infection per 100,000 people last week – with infections mostly affecting young adults. The UK, as a whole, reported nearly 3,000 cases of infection yesterday, nearly doubling the daily rate and the highest number since the middle of May. Deaths currently remain low with two reported yesterday and 12 on Saturday.

Professor Gabriel Scally, former NHS regional director of public health in the south west, said: “They’ve lost control of the virus. It’s no longer small outbreaks they can stamp on. It’s become endemic in our poorest communities and this is the result. It’s extraordinarily worrying when schools are opening and universities are going to be going back.”

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said: “This increase, combined with the ongoing testing fiasco and the poor performance of the contact tracing system, needs an explanation from ministers.”

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said: “The cases are predominantly among younger people but we have seen in other countries across the world and in Europe this sort of rise in the cases among younger people lead to a rise across the population as a whole.”

According to the Guardian, King’s College Hospital, London, has the least spare capacity of all hospitals – and would be most vulnerable to a new surge of patients. The newspaper today reports an analysis suggesting that more than 100 NHS Trusts would be at or above full capacity in the event of a fresh surge. The analysis, provided by Edge Health, sought to estimate the number of extra beds hospitals would need for COVID-19 patients, in addition to those needed last winter.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “Over winter the NHS will flex hospital capacity and community services as needed, alongside a major winter flu immunisation campaign. While COVID inpatient numbers are currently low as we head into winter, the success of these efforts will of course also depend on controlling the virus in the community, including through test and trace, rapid action to control local outbreaks, and of course continued public support for hand hygiene and social distancing measures.”

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation said: “We are worried and our members are worried. The NHS faces a collision of pressures this winter and this feels very much like the calm before the storm.”

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