An NHS doctor has warned the public that Christmas parties could contribute to a spike of Covid this winter that the NHS "couldn't cope" with.
Dr Syira Ahsan, a clinical lead in urgent care, advised people to "err on the side of caution" as NHS bed occupancy has already hit 95 percent during an appearance on Good Morning Britain today.
Speaking from her experience on the frontline during the pandemic, Dr Ahsan spoke to hosts Martin Lewis and Susanna Reid about the state of Covid in the UK and this upcoming winter.
The interview comes after news that global giants Google and Facebook, as well as numerous smaller companies, have already made the decision to scrap December festivities this year due to the risks in a Covid increase.
Dr Ahsan said: "It's actually a daily reminder working on the frontline in the Urgent Care centre where you see spikes - you see it through the front door before you even see statistics - so Covid absolutely is something that's made us all reconvene how we do things.
"We have a new norm. I think it's a little bit premature to say that everything needs to go back to normal. I think we've got a new level of normal where we need to be a little bit more sensible."
Dr Ahsan, whose father passed away from Covid-19 complications last year, said that hospitals are struggling now and so parties should be cancelled to prevent the situation from worsening.
The doctor explained: "We have had second doses up to 70% but Public Health England statistics say that even if you've been double vaccinated, you still have a 1 in 5 chance of developing Covid.
"Having spoken with restaurant owners and other public sectors, they've actually said themselves that the public have now started being a little bit more aware on their own volition, where they've not come in at this time of year, recognising that we're hitting winter, that we've got winter pressures within the NHS, and they've done the sensible thing of staying away."
Pointing out that nightclubs and restaurants are now fully open and that masks and vaccine passports are non-mandatory in England, GMB host and money-saving expert Martin Lewis asked Syira, "What is the true additional risk of a Christmas party when you put it into that bigger mix?"
The NHS worker replied: "Look, Covid is spread via airborne transmission via droplet spread, by surface contact, worse in close spaces which are poorly ventilated.
"You had Broadmasters, a huge surfing festival in August which is outdoors - you couldn't get better ventiliated than that - but you had a surge of 5,000 cases of Covid linked back to that festival, and Cornwall couldn't cope. I know that because I was working in Cornwall at the time."
Despite amounts of daily cases seemingly dropping, Covid-19 infection rates remain at a considerable level.
"Really, we've already hit 95% bed occupancy within the NHS before we've hit winter peaks," she explained. "That's unprecedented. We've never had that before.
"So, if we then go on to have a spike due to the Christmas gatherings, the NHS won't cope."
Club and restaurant owner Alex Proud joined the today's early-morning debate to say that he believes bars and clubs are even safer than supermarkets when it comes to the spreading of Coronavirus and so festive staff bashes should still go ahead.
