The head of the NHS has urged anyone with symptoms of norovirus to stay at home for two days to prevent the spread of infection.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director of NHS England, said staff continued to “work tirelessly to treat thousands of patients with norovirus and other nasty winter viruses each day” but that winter was “far from over”.
The number of people in hospital in England with norovirus remains close to record levels.
An average of 1,094 hospital beds were filled each day last week by patients with diarrhoea and vomiting or norovirus-like symptoms.
This is down slightly by 4% from 1,134 the previous week and is just 6% below the record high of 1,160 a fortnight earlier.
Norovirus levels continue to be sharply higher than at this point 12 months ago, when an average of 470 beds were filled with patients with symptoms, and in 2023 (568 patients).
While flu levels in hospitals are continuing to fall, they also remain higher than at this point in previous years.
An average of 1,546 flu patients were in beds each day last week, including 74 in critical care.
This is down 7% from 1,656 the previous week, when 80 were in critical care.
The total is higher than at this stage in 2024 (1,333) and two years ago (430).
The figures have been published in the latest weekly snapshot of the performance of NHS hospitals in England.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England national medical director, said: “Despite the sunnier weather this week showing some early signs of spring, these latest figures show winter is certainly not over for NHS staff who are continuing to work tirelessly to treat thousands of patients with norovirus and other nasty winter viruses each day.
“Last month, the NHS lost almost 44,000 bed days to norovirus, adding to already incredibly pressured bed occupancy levels, and with flu, RSV and staff absences all up on last year, we are certainly not out of the woods yet.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting thanked NHS staff for their “tireless work” in the face of winter pressures, adding: “While the latest figures point to slight easing in certain areas, the health service remains under considerable strain.
“To ease the burden of seasonal pressures this year, we have delivered more than 29 million vaccinations and ended the damaging strikes, keeping doctors on the front line, rather than the picket line.”
An average of 13,430 hospital beds per day were filled last week in England with patients who were fit to be discharged.
This is up from 13,017 the previous week, but is below the winter peak of 14,087 in early February.
Nearly half of these patients have been in hospital for more than three weeks, due to delays in discharging people to settings such as social or community care, NHS England said.
On average, 42% of patients ready to leave hospital in the week to March 2 were actually discharged each day.
Meanwhile, 31.4% of patients arriving by ambulance at hospitals in England last week waited at least 30 minutes to be handed over to A&E teams.
This is down slightly from 32.5% in the previous week, but is higher than at this point last year when the figure stood at 23.7%.
Some 11.6% of ambulance handovers last week were delayed by more than an hour, down week-on-week from 12.2%, but higher than the 7.5% at this stage in 2024.
Seasonal viruses are also having an impact on the number of NHS staff off sick, with an average of 49,223 absences per day last week, 8% higher than at the equivalent point last year.
