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Britain’s health agency issues a statement this week that has almost become a habit: if you’re sick, work from home and wear masks. Is this a resurgence of Covid or other viruses?
From our correspondent in London,
If you take the subway, you will see many travelers sniffling, blowing their nose, sneezing or coughing loudly. There is Covid, to a certain extent, but above all an epidemic of winter respiratory viruses, scarlet fever (especially in children) and the flu, particularly virulent this year. A cocktail made possible by the first year-end celebrations that have been completely free for three years, without health restriction measures and with slightly decreased immunity due to the subsequent confinements.
That’s why the UK Health Agency recommends, but doesn’t require, Britons to be a little more careful and protect themselves from the germs that roam the winter air. And remind eligible people that it’s not too late to get a flu shot.
Covid-19 and flu are still circulating. If you’re 50 or older, pregnant, or have certain health conditions, you’re at an increased risk of serious illness from these viruses this winter.
It’s not too late to get vaccinated and protect yourself
➡️ https://t.co/xD9FNcA96x pic.twitter.com/joMGb29fhw
— NHS (@NHSuk) January 3, 2023
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The public hospital in full crisis
There is of course the desire for everyone to be in good health, but above all the authorities are trying to preserve the public hospital, because hospital admissions have already exploded, precisely because of respiratory viruses and the flu; +79% for this in the last week of December in England. More than one in ten beds are occupied by Covid or flu patients.
However, the context is complicated for the UK public hospital, National Health Service or NHS. The representatives of the NHS doctors talk about the “ worst winter who have known, due to this juxtaposition of viruses; worst winter while the previous two were marked by waves of Coronavirus.
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But the public hospital is generally experiencing an unprecedented crisis. All the newspapers, all the radio broadcasts broadcast these chilling testimonies: this ninety-year-old who, after a fall and a probable hip fracture, had to wait almost 36 hours before an ambulance came to pick her up; this man stuck in the emergency room, in a wheelchair for over a day waiting to be operated on for a bout of appendicitis. Rows of ambulances in front of hospitals, these shocking images during the pandemic are now commonplace, explain health workers.
This crisis is multifactorial (lack of beds, lack of professionals and lack of external care) but the consequence is that patients are waiting more and more time in the emergency room. The message from the authorities for several weeks has been precisely to avoid emergencies as much as possible. This therefore requires protective measures to avoid contracting winter respiratory viruses, which are potentially fatal for the most vulnerable.
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