parliament as a serious matter. moreover, the reports of which i am aware would seem to constitute blackmail. president biden warns vladimir putin that the us will do significant harm to russia, if he decides to invade ukraine. the first plane carrying aid lands in tonga, on a runway newly cleared of ash, following saturday s volcanic eruption and tsunami. we ve had some more stats in this morning on the number of people being treated for covid in english hospital trusts and on nhs staff absences for covid at hospital trusts in england. let s talk to our health correspondent katharine da costa. take us through these latest details, if you would. i take us through these latest details, if you would.- details, if you would. i think overall figures details, if you would. i think overall figures are details, if you would. i think overall figures are heading i details, if you would. i think| overall figures are heading in details, if you would. i think- overall figures are heading in
in areas all over the country, practices are really struggling to recruit dentists and support staff within nhs dental practices. in portsmouth, we have had reports that they have lost 26% of their nhs dentists. one in four of their dentists have moved away from nhs dentistry in the last 12 months. that picture is being replicated all over the country. there are many towns throughout the country that are unable to attract a single applicant for an nhs dental post. and they are waiting for years to fill those posts. and many of them have given up. we at the british dental association want a strong nhs dental service, so that, you know, your viewers and patients can access the care that they need. sorry to interrupt. please go ahead.
unions have warned that nhs dentistry is hanging by a thread with some patients facing up to two year waits for routine check ups. bbc analysis dound 950 dentists left the nhs in the last year across england and wales. the dentists were covering a total of 2,500 roles as some worked in more than one region. the analysis shows about three quarters of practices in england have not updated their websites to indicate whether or not they are accepting nhs patients, within the last three months. the bda s general dental practice committee chairman shawn charlwood says nhs dentistry is hanging by a thread, it absolutely shouldn t be like this. as your viewers have said, many parts of the country are seeing the nhs dental service hanging by a thread, with up to two year waits for patients to be seen. this is a crisis for patients, and it is a crisis for local nhs dental practices as well.
but it s not the end of the road. and we shouldn t see this as the finish line, because we cannot eradicate this virus and its future variants. instead, we must learn to live with covid in the same way that we ve learned to live with flu. some are wary of going too fast, too quickly. i think it is a bit too early, because cases are still very high. i think it s about time i they lift them, you know. it s been a long couple of years now of sitting about doing nothing. i i think i would keep it in transport and crowded places like shops. the royal college of nursing is warning that dropping plan b will do nothing to ease the pressure on the nhs. but the government believes the booster programme has made a real difference, and that the 0micron wave has peaked.
hospital admissions are fluttering and falling in some areas. what these figures show is that on the 18th of january, out of patients in hospital in england, half were being primarily treated for covid, and others being treated with covid, so primarily with something else. the incidentalfigure has been steadily rising, it was about quarter of 8% in the autumn, it has been rising nearly half. it s important to point out they might be going on for other reasons, notjust a broken leg, they could be being treated for a stroke or cancer, and covid might be complicating that. it also means you have to put in extra infection control measures, so people with covid still have to be isolated on other wards, and that causes pressure and difficulties within the nhs. also, with staff absence, those rates have been falling. so now