LONDON: Hospital staff absences due to Covid have more than doubled in a month in England as the virus surge puts strain on beds, according to data published Friday.
The number of hospital staff ill or self-isolating due to the virus rose from 11,375 on November 29 to 24,362 on December 26, NHS England said.
The “sharply increasing staff absences” coincide with “a 10-month high for the number of patients,” warned national medical director Stephen Powis.
The number of patients in hospital with Covid in the UK reached 11,898 on Wednesday, the highest level since early March, and a rise of 40 percent in a week.
“We don’t yet know the full scale of rising omicron cases,” Powis acknowledged. “The NHS is on a war footing and staff remain braced for the worst.”
The UK is one of Europe’s worst-hit countries with a death toll of 148,421.
NHS England has already started building temporary field hospitals to contain a possible overspill of inpatients if beds in main hospitals become full.
It plans to make available as many as 4,000 “super-surge beds,” in some cases using existing hospital facilities such as gyms or education centers.
It is also trying to free up hospital beds by sending medically fit patients to care homes, hospices and even hotels.
Despite the surge in cases, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has opted not to increase virus curbs over the festive period in England, unlike the devolved governments of the other UK regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The prime minister is focusing on encouraging the public to take up booster jabs, so far administered to more than 33 million.
In a New Year’s Eve message he urged people to “make it your New Year’s resolution — far easier than losing weight or keeping a diary.”
The UK medical regulator MHRA also announced Friday that it has approved Pfizer’s new antiviral pill for over-18s.
The Paxlovid pill for high-risk people with Covid was authorized last week by the US Food and Drug Administration for those aged 12 and over.
Pfizer says clinical trials prove the pill reduces hospitalization and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90 percent.
The UK government announced earlier this month that it had signed deals to buy more than 4 million courses of Pfizer’s Paxlovid and US rival Merck/MSD’s molnupiravir.
England hospital staff absences double as virus surges
https://arab.news/zbjne
England hospital staff absences double as virus surges
- The number of hospital staff ill or self-isolating due to the virus rose from 11,375 on November 29 to 24,362 on December 26
- The "sharply increasing staff absences" coincide with "a 10-month high for the number of patients”
Filipinos worry about future as Manila posts worst economic growth in 15 years
- Philippine economy slowed to weakest pace last quarter, with only 3.0 percent growth
- Filipinos struggle with high prices, increased business cost, reduced savings
MANILA: Over ten years ago, when Fatima Macud brought home roughly 30,000 pesos ($509) a month, the money was enough to cover her expenses and still leave room for savings.
Though she now earns 45,000 pesos, Macud finds herself unable to save any money as she struggles with rising prices to cover daily spending.
“Yes, I got a salary increase, but the thing is, the cost of living here in the city also increased,” the 52-year-old resident of Metro Manila told Arab News on Saturday.
“Now for me, it barely covers my basic needs because the price of commodities just keeps rising — goods, services, everything … Everything feels way too expensive … Now, I can’t save money at all. It’s not enough.”
The Philippine economy has slowed to the weakest pace in nearly 15 years outside of the pandemic, with data from the Philippines Statistics Authority showing just 3.0 percent growth in October to December, compared with 5.3 percent from the same period a year earlier.
The full-year growth in 2025 settled at 4.4 percent, below the 5.7 percent posted in 2024 and lower than the government’s revised target of at least 4.8 percent.
It was the result of “several converging factors,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told reporters earlier this week.
“These include the adverse economic effects of weather and climate-related disruptions. Admittedly, the flood control corruption scandal also weighed on business and consumer confidence,” he said.
But on the ground, Filipinos were more concerned about their day-to-day lives, and the state of the economy has begun to spark new worries about the future.
“I am worried about my future, especially my retirement. If the government is in a bankruptcy state or ends up in financial trouble, will they be able to pay my pension? Can I still avail the free health services with full benefits?” Macud said.
“I’m also worried about my family’s future; the rising cost of living and the lack of employment opportunities.”
Olga Resureccion, a 52-year-old worker in Manila, is among those who believes the government has been “trying its best,” and is keeping her hopes alive.
“You can’t lose hope,” she said. “Most people are still able to provide for themselves and their family. Like (me), I’m able to provide. You just really need to work hard.”
Yet for entrepreneurs such as John Paul Maunes, the economic slowdown was taking a toll on his small restaurant in Cebu City, as he struggled with increasing prices of supplies, taxes and cost of government permits.
“I think people from the ground, especially business owners, are really struggling right now. Particularly those who are SMEs (small and medium enterprises),” Maunes said.
“We cannot increase our prices the way we want it because we’ll lose our customers. And at the same time, we are also struggling on how we can cope with the rising prices of commodities. Plus, the government permits and taxes are increasing every year.”
Over the years, the 41-year-old has had to lay off employees to survive, while hoping for more government support and opportunities through economic growth.
“We have this fear of impending doom as small business owners … With the increasing prices and economic impact on us on the ground, it’s a huge challenge,” he said.
“We’re just hoping that better things will come for our government, for our economy.”
