The North East and North West of England are seeing the most “concerning” rates of the Omicron variant, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) has said.
Dr Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick, told Times Radio that cases are “slowing down” in London but that scientists need two weeks to see if this continues.
He added: “Most other parts of the country are about two to three weeks behind where London is in their epidemic profile.
“Particularly concerning is the North East and the North West – if you look at hospital admissions in those two regions they are going up, also the Midlands, where I live, that’s also a little bit concerning, so it is a worry.”
Meanwhile, NHS leaders have been accused of putting hospitals under scrutiny for having declared critical incidents and postponing surgeries.
Sources told The Independent that an email urging hospitals to use the “correct terminology” and to give advance notice before declaring their status was a “thinly-veiled threat” that added “subtle pressure”.
