A triple threat for the NHS this winter could cause health system to collapse, experts say.
The first pandemic milestone will be on Tuesday, which is a year since “freedom day' when the bulk of England’s Covid restrictions were ditched.
But in a second landmark, the Office for National Statistics also announced last Tuesday 200,000 people had died from the virus being named on their death certificate.
Around 45,000 deaths have happened since freedom day.
Britain, however, is now facing a new wave of infections with one in 19 affected by the virus in England.
Fewer than 10% of infection are marked as “cases”, but a cough or runny nose is twice as likely to be Covid according to the Zoe app.
There are concerns among medical experts about the arrival of winter.
Flu and Norovirus which normally affect the NHS were not an issue last year.
But as temperatures drop and the winter kicks-in they will become more prominent and along with Covid bring a three pronged attack to the NHS, experts predict.
The grim landmark which passed last week shows covid was once a huge killer, but there are fewer deaths as vaccines are having an impact.
One in 100 people who then contacted the virus died, but now it is as low as one in 3,000.
Almost everyone in the UK has been exposed to Covid and the impact of vaccines and our immune systems response meant we could open up open up a year ago
The publication of a study in Qatar found those who have had the virus reduced chances of getting a severe reinfection by 97%.
But hospitals have no space, Dr Adrian Boyle, of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told the BBC ’s Today show on Friday: “We are short of about 14,000 beds across the NHS.”
Ambulances, meanwhile are said to be on 'black alert'
Response times average for “category two” patients reached 51 minutes last month despite an 18 minute target.
In countries such as Australia have reported earlier and sharper numbers of flu cases in their first post-covid winter.
And there are fears the UK could see a rise in flu death as a bad year they can go above 20,000 deaths.
Those having a flu jab last year rose to 82% of over-65s
And all adults over 50, and children up to 14, will be entitled for a free flu vaccine in winter this year.
Experts predict Norovirus will return adding more pressure to the NHS.
But mask wearing doctors say maybe a tough sell to the population after masks have been ditched.
Professor Adam Finn said: “You can’t expect people to modify their behaviour even voluntarily if you don’t in some way explain to them that it’s a good idea and why."
Excess deaths, are rising, however and very few are caused by Covid
Dr David Spiegelhalter, a top statistician told the Times: “These are extra hospital deaths,”
“The NHS, and ambulance services, continue to be disrupted, and so this may be contributing.”
