THOUSANDS of Covid patients will be treated in “virtual wards” at home as scientists warn cases could hit a grim 2 million a day by the New Year.
NHS England director Professor Stephen Powis said the health service was on a “war footing” and planned to treat 15 per cent of Covid patients remotely by monitoring their oxygen levels.
The senior NHS official said treating people at home will be vital to freeing up beds for patients waiting in ambulances and on trolleys in A&E.
The new measure comes as government scientists warned that between 600,000 and two million people could be infected daily by the end of the month if tougher restrictions aren’t brought in immediately, according to The Guardian.
It comes as the PM urged Brits to get their booster jabs as soon as they can, after long snaking queues were seen at vaccine centres across the country.
Trending In The News is also urging readers to sign up to the Jabs Army campaign to make the rollout as smooth and fast as possible
According to the doomsday scientists – which report into the government’s scientific advisory board, SAGE – based on current modelling, hospitalisations could peak between 3,000 and 6,000 a day and deaths at between 600 and 6,000 a day.
According to leak minutes from Thursday’s SAGE minutes, the advisers urged No 10 to impose “stringent measures… very soon”.
The minutes read: “The timing of such measures is crucial. Delaying until 2022 would greatly reduce the effectiveness of such interventions and make it less likely that these would prevent considerable pressure on health and care settings.”
They urged the PM to reintroduce restrictions “equivalent to those in place after step 2 or step 1 of the roadmap in England” which included the “Rule of Six” and just two households meeting as well as barring overseas holidays.
“Although increased vaccination is a critically important mitigation and will reduce disease severity,” scientists warned, “a significant package of non-pharmaceutical interventions would be required to slow growth in infections.
“Crowded indoor mixing with many different groups remains the biggest risk factor for spread. Large gatherings present a risk for multiple spreading events.”
To prepare for the forthcoming wave, hospitals are aiming to discharge 10,000 patients before the start of January while stringent testing procedures will be introduced for those re-entering a care home, according to The Times.
The NHS has also set up a number of “care hotels” to house dozens of patients looked after by live-in carers.
Three are already operating in the South of England, with one housing 30 patients in Plymouth.
“We can’t afford to wait,” Powis said.
“We expect we will see a substantial number of hospitalisations in January. This time last year we had just over 15,000 patients in hospital, and by the middle of January we had nearly 35,000.
“Once hospitalisations start to increase, they can increase very quickly, so it’s important the NHS prepares.
“The NHS is now on a war footing once again.”
Under plans drawn up by the NHS, patients in virtual wards will be monitored using an oximeter, which is placed on the fingers.
Up to 20,000 reservists such as former doctors, nurses and non-clinical staff, will help sure up vital services across all 42 NHS regions in England.
Powis said the radical new treatment process would allow thousands to receive “the same care they would in hospital but from the comfort of their own home.”
He said: “This is better for patients, it is better for their families and it is better for the NHS, as it limits the spread of the virus, which we know at the minute is rising exponentially.”
“This approach has been shown to provide safe care without the need for hospital admissions”.
It comes as the UK recorded more than 90,000 Covid cases for the second day running.
Another 90,418 Brits tested positive in the last 24 hours while yesterday 93,045 infections were reported.
Omicron cases have also trebled in the last day, rising by more than 10,000 cases.
The dramatic rise in infections has seen London Mayor Sadiq Khan declare a “major incident” in the capital on Saturday.
Mr Khan warned the city could run out of police officers, firefighters and NHS workers due to the rapidly rising cases forcing thousands of front-line workers into isolation.
He told Sky News: “We’re incredibly concerned by the huge surge of the Omicron variant in the last 24 hours.
“Hospital admissions and staff absences are going up by massive level.”
He added: “The Omicron variant has quickly become dominant with cases increasing rapidly and the number of patients in our hospitals with Covid-19 on the rise again.
“We are already feeling the impact across the capital and while we are still learning about this variant, it’s right that London’s key agencies work closely together to minimise the impact on our city, including helping to protect the vital vaccination programme.”
