Falsche Zählung GB
23.12.2021: 2/3 der Spitalpatienten in England
werden mit anderer Krankheit eingeliefert und
bekommen Corona IM SPITAL - Omikron provoziert
aber KEINE höhere Todesrate oder
Spitaleinlieferung!
Two-thirds of new Covid hospital patients in
England only tested positive AFTER being
admitted for a different illness
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10339555/Two-thirds-new-Covid-hospital-patients-England-tested-positive-admitted.html?s=09
Two-thirds of new Covid hospital
patients in England only tested positive AFTER
being admitted for a different illness, official
data shows amid mounting evidence Omicron is
milder
- More than half of new 'Omicron
patients' are actually people being treated in
hospital for a different reason
- These people are in hospital for
physical injuries such as broken bones, heart
attacks, or even routine care
- Ministers are keeping a close eye
on Covid hospital admissions as they weigh up
imposing more restrictions
Two-thirds of new Covid hospital patients in England were
actually admitted for a different ailment, MailOnline's
analysis of
NHS
data suggests - as a growing number of studies show
Omicron
is much milder than Delta.
In the two weeks to December
21, hospitals in England recorded 563 new coronavirus
inpatients — the majority of which are believed to be
Omicron now that the variant is the country's dominant
stain.
But just 197 (35 per cent)
were being primarily treated for Covid, with the
remaining 366 (65 per cent) only testing positive after
being admitted for something else.
Experts told MailOnline it
was important to distinguish between admissions
primarily for Covid so that rising numbers do not spook
ministers into more social restrictions or scare the
public from going to hospital.
England's incidental
hospital cases are being driven by London, which has
become the UK's Omicron hotspot and where admissions
have been rising sharply.
Just over four in 10 new
Omicron hospital patients in London were admitted for a
different ailment, MailOnline's analysis suggests.
There were 523 more 'Covid
admissions' resulting in an overnight stay in the two
weeks to December 21, after Omicron became dominant in
the capital earlier this month.
Admission rates for Covid in
the capital are one factor ministers are keeping an eye
on before potentially pulling the trigger on more curbs
because London is considered to be a few weeks ahead of
the rest of the country in its Omicron outbreak.
Officials are reported to be
considering a national two-week 'circuit breaker'
lockdown after Christmas if London's daily admissions
breach 400 this week — which would signal
'unsustainable' pressure on the NHS.
The latest data show this
figure is currently just shy of this threshold, at 301
patients on Monday.
The rising number of
so-called 'incidental cases' - people who are only
diagnosed with the virus after going to the NHS for a
different ailment - is in line with the picture in South
Africa.
Studies in the epicentre
Gauteng province have shown up to three-quarters of
Omicron patients there were not admitted primarily for
the virus.
It comes as officials warn
the NHS faces its busiest ever Christmas, with bed
occupancy already at 94.5 per cent up on last year – and
2,800 people a day are having to wait over half an hour
in ambulances, as an increasing number of health staff
go on sick leave.
With so much stock being placed on numbers of Covid
patients, there have been growing calls for
the Government to distinguish between people admitted
to hospital who happen to have Covid and those admitted
because of Covid- to get a clearer picture of the
demands the virus itself is putting on the health service.
Dr Raghib Ali, a Cambridge University clinical
epidemiologist, said: 'If you've got very high prevalence
of Omicron in the community then there is a higher chance
anyone who comes to hospital for any reason, even people
with broken legs, will have Covid.
'It's just feature of having
so much Omicron in the community. It is essential to
distinguish between admissions that are primarily for
Covid and those that are not.
'It's not only helpful but
in many ways essential to know the primary diagnosis and
to know how many daily admissions there are for every
condition — that would give us an indication of the true
pressure on the NHS.'
Professor Sir David
Spiegelhalter, an eminent statistician at Cambridge
University, told MailOnline: 'It looks like there is an
increasing number of people being admitted to hospital
who turn out to have Covid, presumably the Omicron
variant.
'This is perhaps inevitable
with a fast-spreading variant in which the majority do
not experience symptoms.
'But it means there is an
extra burden on the hospitals in caring for infected
patients.'
Covid-infected people put
strain on hospitals because they need to be isolated,
and, depending on a variety of risk factors, for example
if the patient is elderly and/or frail, Covid can
exacerbate health problems and later become the primary
reason they remain in hospital.
And NHS officials have
increasingly warned the health service is coming under
increasing pressure due to Omicron, despite there being
fewer Covid patients in hospital now than at the start
of November.
According to NHS England
data, there were 6,245 Covid patients needing hospital
care on December 21. On November 1, almost four weeks
before the first Omicron cases was found in the UK, this
figure was 7,301.
Chief executive of NHS
Providers Chris Hopson told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme said overall bed occupancy, meaning not just
Covid, rates are 5 per cent higher than last year, when
the country was being ravaged by the Alpha
variant.
'If you look at the broader
picture, we are busier at this time of year than we've
ever been before,' he said.
'Our bed occupancy rate is
94.5 per cent compared to last year's 89 per cent.
That's a huge difference in terms of much more busy.'
Mr Hopson said around 2,800
people are having to wait more than half an hour in the
back of ambulances before being admitted to hospital
every day, with staff shortages worsening the strain.
'I was talking to the chief
executive of London Ambulance Service yesterday who was
telling me 12 per cent of his staff are currently on
sick leave,' he added.
'What you can see is in
places where Omicron in particular is spreading though
the community you're finding significant numbers of
staff are off.'
It wasn't all doom and gloom
from Mr Hopson however as he added that the NHS is
preparing to expand care capacity in case of a 'surge'
but also said the health service should be able to
manage.
'What we're trying to do is
at the moment is just what we always do in the NHS,
which is to prioritise care based on medical need," he
said.
'We will and we are
identifying places that would be needed if we really
really needed to surge.'
Mr Hopson added that the NHS
had handled around 40,000 simultaneous Covid hospital
cases last January and would be capable of handling the
current uptick in admissions, which stands at around
7,000 nationally.
'We can do this, but the
issue is, we're in incredible pressure right the way
across the health system,' he said.
News of NHS pressures comes
along with calls for the Government to clarify its
tipping point for imposing further pandemic
restrictions, as new figures show the number of NHS
staff absent for Covid reasons at acute trusts in London
more than doubled last week.
Across England as a whole, 18,829 NHS staff at acute
hospital trusts were absent due to Covid on December 19,
up 54 per cent from 12,240 a week earlier and up 51 per
cent from 12,508 at the start of the month, according to
the data from NHS England.
In London, a total of 3,874
NHS staff at acute trusts were absent for Covid reasons
on December 19, more than double the number a week
earlier (1,540) and more than three times the number at
the start of the month (1,174).
The total includes staff who
were ill with Covid or who were having to self-isolate
due to being in close contact with someone, such as a
family member, who has tested positive.
The figures comes as Boris
Johnson faces calls to outline his post-Christmas Covid
strategy for England as Northern Ireland, Wales and
Scotland have already announced new restrictions to
tackle the Omicron variant.
Labour called for 'more
clarity' from the Government on its plans – with Lucy
Powell, shadow secretary of state for digital, culture,
media and sport, claiming Mr Johnson is unable to make
calls on Covid data because he has 'lost authority with
the public'.
Ms Powell told Sky News
there is a 'feeling' that 'the Prime Minister is not
actually able to take those decisions based very clearly
on data because he’s got his own political problems, and
he’s lost authority with the public in order to convey
some of those messages'.
She said: 'I think what we
would like to see … is more clarity around what data
points the Government is looking at, where the
thresholds lie within those areas that are data points,
and if those thresholds are crossed, what action would
then follow, or what action wouldn’t follow if the data
comes back in a more positive way, as it has done this
morning.
'What are the sort of set of
restrictions that may or may not come in depending on
those data points? Because at the moment, I think a lot
of people just feel like they’re really stabbing in the
dark.
'If you’re running a
nightclub, can you stock up for New Year? If (you’ve)
got Christmas concerts on or you’re operating a theatre,
if you’ve got some travel plans, if you’ve got friends
and families coming to stay after Christmas – what is it
people can expect based on what information?
'We’re all a little bit in
the dark about that.'
Earlier today, the economy
minister for Wales's Labour Government said he did not
think England’s position on Covid restrictions would
remain the same 'for very much longer'.
Vaughan Gething told Times
Radio: 'We’ve doubled our package because we know that
there is a direct impact from the alert level two style
interventions we’ve had to introduce to protect the
public.
'I’ve met regularly with
Dave Chapman (UKHospitality’s executive director for
Wales) and other stakeholders over the last few days
making clear the seriousness of the position we’re at …
we’re actually being a bit more generous than the money
that’s on offer in England.
'Of course, Dave’s talking
about England continuing to be open. Well, I’m not sure
that’s going to be the position for very much longer.'
Mr Gething also said he
thought England was 'out of step' with the other three
UK nations on its Covid response.
Asked about plans in Wales
to curb the spread of the virus, he told Times Radio:
'Scotland and Northern Ireland have taken relatively
similar measures yesterday – it’s England that’s out of
step with the other three nations.
'We’ve done this because of
the clear public health advice we’ve got and because we
are already starting to see a rise in cases.'
He added: 'We are a little
more cautious certainly than England is – but that’s
because we think it’s the right call.'
It also emerged today that
people who catch the Omicron variant of Covid may be
less likely to end up in hospital amid rising case rates
and new restrictions across the UK nations.
Two new studies suggested
catching Omicron was less likely to result in severe
symptoms and hospital admission than earlier Covid
strains like Delta.
However, Professor Neil
Ferguson, from the Imperial College London team behind
one of the studies, warned Omicron’s severity may be
offset by the 'reduced efficacy' of vaccines to stop it
being transmitted.
Recorded case rates of Covid
across the UK rose above 100,000 on Wednesday for the
first time since the start of the pandemic.
Ministers have stressed the
Government keeping new Covid data in constant review,
with health minister Gillian Keegan saying yesterday:
'There is uncertainty. We can’t predict what the data is
going to tell us before we’ve got the data.'
