NHS faces significant pressure as flu and covid cases rise

The NHS received one of the highest weekly numbers of 111 calls last week as demand on the service rocketed because of covid-19, norovirus, and group A streptococcal infections.NHS England reported that NHS 111 received over 700 000 calls in the past week alone (5 to 11 December), a 60% increase on the previous week (rising from 440 047 to 706 129). This is the highest number on record, excluding two weeks at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic (March 2020).At the same time, the number of people testing positive for covid-19 in England increased by 17% to 27 830 in the seven days up to and including 10 December.1 Hospital admissions for covid-19 also rose by 28% to 5250 in the seven days up to and including 12 December.2Bed occupancyLatest figures show that the number of patients with flu in general and acute care beds every day last week…
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