Doctors have urged that a new Coronavirus variant which is 'already linked to one in 25 cases in the UK' should be a wake-up call.
The strain, called XXB.1.5, is causing alarm in the USA and is projected to be making up 40.5 percent of Covid-19 cases nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is thought the strain has mutations which allows it infect people more easily and dodge immunity.
Experts have warned that the new variant could pile more pressure on an already overstretched NHS as winter continues and health services battle increasing cases of the flu. But it has also been cautioned that there is no indication the XBB.1.5 strain causes more severe illness than previous variants.
According to the Sanger Institute, one of the UK's largest Covid surveillance centres, four per cent of Coronavirus cases in the week to December 17 were caused by XBB.1.5. The variant is a mutated version of Omicron XBB, which was detected in Singapore, India and 33 other countries in October, according to the World Health Service.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, told MailOnline that the new mutated variant is a 'wakeup call' and could exacerbate the NHS crisis. He said: "The XBB.1.5 variant is highly infectious and is driving increased hospital admissions in New York, particularly among the elderly.
"Waning immunity, more indoor mixing because of the cold weather and lack of other mitigations, such as wearing facemasks, are also contributing to this surge of infection in the US. We don't know how this variant is going to behave in the UK in a population that has been previously exposed to other Omicron variants and where many of the over 50s have had booster shots with a bivalent vaccine.
"Nevertheless, this is a wakeup call — a sharp reminder that we can't be complacent about Covid. The threat of XBB.1.5 and other Covid variants further exacerbating the current NHS crisis stresses the need for us to remain vigilant.
"We need to continue to monitor levels of infection with different variants in the UK, encourage those who are eligible to get their boosters shots — why not extend this to the under 50s? — and promote the value of other mitigation measures."
It comes as a leading health official said the current pressure on the NHS is 'equivalent' to that of the early stage of the pandemic. Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said that now the pressure is coming from various directions, including staff shortages, lack of investment, a worn-out workforce and a backlog of operations, as well as a continuation of Covid and flu cases.
In November, 37,837 patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E for a decision to be admitted to a hospital department, according to figures from NHS England. This is an increase of almost 355% compared with the previous November, when an estimated 10,646 patients waited longer than 12 hours.
More than a dozen NHS Trusts and ambulance services declared critical incidents over the festive period, with some critically-ill patients reportedly waiting hours for a bed. Ambulances have been left unable to pick up those in need because they have been stuck waiting to hand over patients to hospital.
Last week, one in five ambulance patients in England waited more than an hour to be handed over to A&E teams. NHS trusts have a target of 95% of all ambulance handovers to be completed within 30 minutes, and 100% within 60 minutes.
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