Boris Johnson will host a Downing Street Covid press conference at 5pm on Tuesday afternoon, amid the continued spread of the Omicron variant.
The prime minister will be joined by England’s chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
Downing Street said the NHS had seen a significant increase in admissions, but added it was “pleasing” that the number of patients requiring ventilation support has not increased to the same extent.
But Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the staffing situation in hospitals is “almost impossible” as leaders try to manage their resources.
He told Times Radio that, for many, “the most pressing element of all” is the number of staff who are absent due to Covid.
Taylor added that hospital admissions seem to have “perhaps plateaued in London or there may be a second peak after the new year now, but it’s rising across the rest of Britain”.
Meanwhile, Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said at least “half a dozen” NHS hospitals have declared a critical incident as they try to respond to Covid.
However, the health leader said fears raised before Christmas of a huge rise in the number of seriously ill older people needing critical care and mechanical ventilation has not occurred yet.
“There are a number of chief executives who are saying, if we were going to see that surge, we probably would have seen the beginnings of it up to now, so there are glimmers of hope,” he said.
