Tougher Covid rules a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, NHS boss says

Tougher Covid restrictions in the wake of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant have been described as ‘inevitable’ by a key NHS organisation.

The NHS Confederation, a membership body for healthcare providers and staff across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said it was a question of “when, rather than if” new rules would be introduced.

Hospitality chiefs have also called on the Government to provide greater clarity on coronavirus restrictions amid a wave of cancellations.

It all comes after the Prime Minister Boris Johnson ruled out immediately implementing any new Covid-19 measures in the run up to Christmas, but warned he had to “reserve the possibility” of bringing in more stringent restrictions.

The latest Government statistics showed there were a further 91,743 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK on Monday (20 December), with a further 44 deaths recorded of people who had died within 28 days of a positive test.

What the NHS Confederation said

NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said the record-breaking Omicron wave has put the NHS at risk of being overwhelmed.

The organisation said average hospital bed occupancy is already high at 93% with hospitals in England seeing more than 800 people admitted with coronavirus every day.

These issues have been compounded by rising levels of staff sickness, particularly in London, and high demand for mental health, community and primary care services.

Mr Taylor said his organisation’s members feel the Government has to act on Omicron ahead of January, which is typically the busiest month for frontline NHS services.

“Health leaders are not calling for further restrictions as they know these can be very damaging to people’s health and wellbeing but, given the rising cases of coronavirus and the rapid spread of omicron, they feel it is now a question of when rather than if they will be needed,” he said.