Quick update on Covid levels in England - looks like cases rising (slowly) this month

There is not much data around. UKHSA hospital admissions with Covid in England is released every 2 weeks, NHS England data on hospital admissions every month and Scottish wastewater monitoring is paused until the end of September while they are reorganising collection.

That said, the latest UKHSA data of admissions up to the 8 September was released today. After steep falls from the summer “FLiRT” variant peak, admissions have started creeping up again - earlier than I would have expected since people are only just returning to work and education.

As the third module of the Covid Inquiry gets underway looking at the NHS response, it is worth reiterating that in-hospital transmission of coronavirus remains a problem. A recent Nature analysis estimated that between 95,000 and 167,000 patients caught Covid in hospitals during the second wave (June 2020 - March 2021). Our hospitals have few single rooms and are often in old outdated buildings but we know that HEPA filtration to clean the air can reduce rates of transmission in hospitals (especially if combined with high quality mask wearing).

As highlighted this week by the Covid Clinically Vulnerable Families group, far too little effort has been made to improve indoor air quality in hospitals since 2020. Those in hospital are (obviously!) sicker, older, and more vulnerable to Covid infection than the general population. It is frankly scandalous that we have done so little to make at least these spaces safer for patients (and, by the way, staff).

Meanwhile, the autumn booster campaign started this month - please do get boosted if you are eligible! It remains the best protection to severe illness if infected.

For more detailed analysis of latest data, including the other home nations, please read Bob Hawkins’ latest substack post!