official figures suggest that nearly 2.3 million people in the uk had covid in the week before christmas the highest level of infections since the data was first compiled last year. the figures indicate that one in 30 of the population had coronavirus. for the week before, the estimate was one in a5. it s translating into greater pressure on the nhs, more than 25,000 health care workers are themselves off sick or isolating each day. our health correspondent katharine da costa reports. most nhs staff will be glad to see the back of 2021. nearly two years into this pandemic, many are exhausted. a spike in covid cases is driving a rise in staff sickness. in england, london is worst affected with about 4% of staff in acute trusts absent for covid related reasons in the week before christmas, up nearly 60% on the week before. many feel it s impacting on patient care. the staff that are at work will be caring for more
economies and also even to get their schools back on track. it could be years before any of them get back to normal if they ever get back to normal. as we look back on the past two years, we should never forget how journalists failed in their proper roles to question the proclaimed orthodoxy of the lockdown is. rather than questioning come of those who were so quick to rob us are far freedom, they jumped into bed with them. meanwhile prominent media figures launched relentless attacks on pupils like. governor trying to rewrite the history of covid in her state estate with one of the te worst mortality rates for it. addressing a large mass like crowd at a republican crowd outside dallas. it comes with a surge in covid cases. he is doing everything he ca to help the virus spread. don t even know who that person is.
space to get on and conclude her enquiry and i would urge everybody who has knowledge office and understanding and memories of this to tell her what they know. so understanding and memories of this to tell her what they know.- to tell her what they know. so you would like her to tell her what they know. so you would like her to to tell her what they know. so you would like her to interview - to tell her what they know. so you | would like her to interview dominic cummings? it s would like her to interview dominic cumminrs? , ., would like her to interview dominic cummings? would like her to interview dominic cumminrs? v ., ., ., . cummings? it s not for me to decide who she has cummings? it s not for me to decide who she has got cummings? it s not for me to decide who she has got to cummings? it s not for me to decide who she has got to interviewed, - cummings? it s not for me to decide who she has got to interviewed, but| who she has got to interviewed, but everyone who ha
this week due to a surge in covid cases. now hospitals across the country, already overwhelmed with patients, are facing staffing shortages. nbc news correspondent sam brock has the latest. reporter: the omicron variant may be spreading at the speed of light, but its grip on american workers is slowing down critical services. we have over 500 employees throughout this town that have come down with covid. reporter: at baptist health in miami, some emergency care centers have closed due to a strain on staff. is this a function of not enough people? is that why you re making this choice? yes. we have plenty of equipment. we have plenty of medication. it is the staff. reporter: the crunch prompting change in cal. it s a major disaster waiting to happen. reporter: the hyperinfectious variant leading to new state rules, health care workers who
a contingency measure in case of a surge in covid patients, but there is concern about who will staff them. we would prefer that the government take steps to avoid needing to use that extra surge capacity, purely because there just aren t the number of staff needed to safely provide the care for any patients that are required care, and that s with the priority needs to be, to ensure we ve got staff to safely care for people that need care. eight nightingale units will be set up in hospital grounds to care for around 100 covid patients each. to care for around 100 covid patients each. and hospital admissions are now rising sharply in the uk, almost doubling in england in the past week. and that follows several weeks of soaring infections reaching record highs, but many people are still finding it hard to get tested. well, we thought, we d come