few days have been yet higher. daily hospitalizations are up 72% in the same two-week period, striking a daily average of more than 121,000 people being admitted, but again, if you look at the right side of the screen you ll notice the days have been higher than that. vaccines and testing are the two best tools in the fight against covid and we re dealing with a crisis of the unvaccinated a omicron drives a spike along testing shortage that s nothing short of a debacle. long lines and long delays in getting results. joining me is dr. laila stanford, pediatric and general surgeon and founder of the black doctors covid-19 consortium and she administered my first covid-19 test back in 2020. dr. stanford, thank you for being here. you, right in the beginning, before we had vaccines, before we had a talk of vaccines, you were sitting there saying people
parents here do voluntary lateral flow tests with their children. i want to keep life normal as possibly it can be, really. i don t want any more disruption, anyways. if he brings it home i ve got an elderly i mother in law, he is going to pass l it on to her, so again, i test my. kids every other day. the government has appealed to former teachers to return. details of how that s gone are expected tomorrow. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. the latest government figures show almost 121,000 new infections in the latest 24 hour period. on average there were 157,666 new cases per day in the last week. the latest figures show almost 20,000 people in hospital with covid. there ve been another 379 deaths of people who died within 28 days of a positive test the number is higher than expected because of a technical issue in reporting deaths before christmas. on average in the past week,
people in november, the highest since records began in august 2010. 123,218 people had to wait at least four hours from the decision to admit, to admission, in december, which is slightly below the all time high ofjust under 121,000, last october. so, very high numbers 0ctober. so, very high numbers again, a record high in fat, 0ctober. so, very high numbers again, a record high infat, number of people waiting for admission in english a&e departments. a record high in fact. the care system that supports people who are older and disabled is under grim and relentless pressure, according to an organisation representing not for profit care providers in the uk. the national care forum says existing staff shortages have been compounded by absences caused by 0micron and delays in getting pcr tests back. a rapid survey of care providers shows many are now unable to take on new clients, even though there is significant demand for help.
we can russia costs lives or to negotiate something that can, in fact, improve their security. i think that s the decision that putin has to make and that choice will determine what happens with ukraine. you caught my attention late last week when i heard you say we have to assume the worst at this point. what is that, secretary, and why is that? well, it s assuming the worst? i m sorry. yeah, at this point with russia, we have to assume the worst, you said late last week and i m wondering what you think the worst is and why you think we need to assume it now. i think it s pretty clear that putin is a bully but he s not stupid. and the real question is whether or not, with 121,000 troops at the border, he is going to move to invade the ukraine.
what will be the likely path for infections in the uk over the next few weeks? it looks to me as if the situation is starting to stabilise. there s some signs that we ve not seen the huge rise in numbers that we expected by this stage, and we re also seeing in some parts of the uk early signs that admissions to hospital are levelling off. we ve not seen that everywhere yet, but i m hoping that will come, and then we can be more confident about the fact that we re beginning to get through this recent surge. and in a sign of a changing assessment of risks, ministers in england are considering reducing the isolation period after a positive test from seven days to five. that s partly to help employers, with the nhs in particular struggling because of widespread staff absences caused by the spread of the virus and the need to isolate. hugh pym, bbc news. the latest pandemic figures show almost 121,000 new infections in the latest 24 hour period. on average, there were 157,666 new cases per