Charles Jillings, CEO of Utilico, energized by strong economic momentum across Latin America. Watch the video here.
Just one fifth of the weekly rise in Covid inpatients was caused by people admitted to hospital because of the virus, figures suggest.
The most up-to-date NHS data show that on December 21, there were 6,245 beds occupied by coronavirus patients in English hospitals - an increase of 259 from the previous week.
But within that increase, just 45 patients were admitted because of the virus, with the remaining 214 in hospital for other conditions but having also tested positive - so called “incidental Covid” admissions.
Critics of the data say it is wrong to include incidental figures in the daily updates of admissions and patient totals, as they can include someone with a broken leg who has just also tested positive on admission, but may be completely asymptomatic.
'Not the same disease we were seeing a year ago'
The growing prevalence of omicron in the community also means that there are far more people likely to test positive on entering hospital, compared to during previous waves.
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Overall, nearly 30 per cent of people currently in hospital with Covid are “incidental” cases - 1,813 out of 6,245 - the highest it has been since the NHS started releasing the figures in the summer.
The number of incidental Covid cases has been rising in recent weeks because omicron is far more infectious than delta, meaning that many people will be entering hospital unknowingly infected.
In the previous week, December 7 to December 14 - when the vast majority of hospitalisations were still delta - some 59 per cent of the 289 weekly rise was primarily Covid.
Experts said it was important to treat the current hospital data with caution, while Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, said: “This is not the same disease we were seeing a year ago.
“The horrific scenes that we saw a year ago – intensive care units being full, lots of people dying prematurely – that is now history in my view and I think…that’s likely to continue."
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said it was important not to over-interpret the recent rises in hospitalisations.
“What our guys are saying is that incidental cases are making around 25 to 30 per cent of cases that are arriving, but that will vary from place to place," he said.
“In London, you would expect to see higher levels and lower in somewhere like the South West, where community infections are lower.
“They are seeing an increase in the number of hospital admissions, but it's not precipitous. It's not going up in an exponential way. As the number of cases in the community rises, there are significant levels of incidental cases.
“So what our chief executives are saying is just be careful about over-interpreting the data. But we mustn't forget that having those people in hospital causes complications because of infection control measures.
“You can’t judge NHS pressure solely on Covid caseload, as ho
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/12/17/coal-burned-ever-keep-lights/
Fewer people have died or required hospital treatment from omicron in South Africa than in previous waves despite a record number of new infections, health officials said on Friday.
While experts stressed that high levels of immunity in the South African population meant that omicron might still wreak havoc elsewhere, the news bolstered reports that the new variant might not be as virulent as other forms of Covid-19.
“The hospitalisations are not increasing at such a dramatic rate,” Michelle Groome the head of Public Health Surveillance at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), said. “We are starting to see some increases, but relatively small increases in deaths.”
The news comes after South Africa recorded the highest number of daily Covid-19 infections the nation has ever seen earlier this week – more than 26,000 cases driven on by the dramatic spread of omicron.
The highly mutated variant of Covid-19 was first detected by highly skilled researchers in southern Africa last month.
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Africa’s most industrialised nation is thought to be around two to three weeks ahead of the UK’s omicron wave and British officials are anxiously trying to learn from South Africa’s experience.
But scientists warned against complacency, as new UK research published by Imperial College London suggested omicron may not be intrinsically milder than previous variants.
“The study finds no evidence of Omicron having lower severity than delta, judged by either the proportion of people testing positive who report symptoms or by the proportion of cases seeking hospital care after infection,” said the research team, led by Professor Neil Ferguson.
Earlier this week, Discovery Health SA, a major South African health insurer, reported 29 per cent fewer cases of severe illness with omicron than with the first wave of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, the South African Medical Research Council released data indicating that excess deaths – the number of recorded deaths above the average in pre-pandemic years – had not increased dramatically.
Wassila Jassat, a public health specialist from the NICD, said on Friday that the number of people requiring oxygen was “lower than what it was in comparison to any of the previous wave periods”.
“Patients do seem to stay for a shorter duration,” she said.
South Africa officials and experts were at pains to stress that this does not necessarily mean that omicron is a less deadly form of Covid-19.
The country of 60m was devastated by waves of the beta and delta variants, so rates of public immunity are high. In Gauteng province, the epicentre of South Africa’s omicron wave, surveys suggest that almost 3 in 4 people have had previous coronavirus infections.
The rates of so-called ‘seropositivity’ are also high in the UK – about nine out of 10 people. But British demographics are different to South Africa where the average person is only 27
The UK's first omicron victim was an unvaccinated pensioner taken in by online conspiracy theories, his stepson has claimed.The unnamed patient aged in his early 70s reportedly passed away on Monday in a Northampton hospital after falling ill with the Covid-19 variant at the beginning of this month.His stepson, who identified himself only as John from Smithfield, told Nick Ferrari's radio show on LBC that his stepfather believed conspiracy theories that the pandemic was a hoax, and had refused to get vaccinated against the virus.John told LBC: "He was a recluse, he never went out. He had his shopping brought to him. The only place he went to was the bin outside the block he lived in and the Post Office. He was one of the cleanest guys I've ever known."He wasn't vaccinated at all. My sister is gutted but on the other hand she's a little bit angry that he never took these vaccines. She had an argument with him at the end of October about this very thing - getting vaccinated. He thought it was a conspiracy. He was an intelligent man but it's all these different things you're getting from online and different media.Advertisement"He ate healthily, he didn't smoke, he hadn't drank in 30 years near enough. He was scared. He started to look good then it just went boom downhill."He added that if his stepfather had been vaccinated he might still be alive."Had he been vaccinated, he would probably still be here. He might be ill, but he'd still be here," said John."If you're vaccinated and you've got your booster, you should be alright. It's the ones that haven't got it, they're the ones that need to be worried now."If you were lying in a bed with a mask on with 80 per cent oxygen being fired at you, you'd have regrets I think - I would."Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, confirmed earlier this week that at least one person had died with the omicron variant in the UK.There are currently 164 omicron cases confirmed in Northamptonshire.Toby Sanders, the chief executive of Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told the BBC that the situation in the county was "very, very critical" and the rise of the omicron variant could "overwhelm" the NHS.NHS England, the Department for Health and Social Care, and the UK Health Security Agency said they would not comment on individual cases.Local health authorities in Northamptonshire declined to comment.Omicron now represents 20 per cent of Covid-19 cases in England, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs this week.There are more than 4,700 confirmed cases of the variant in the country, with the first being identified on November 27.Omicron multiplies 70 times faster in the airways than delta yet replicates 10 times more slowly in the lungs, which may explain why it is very transmissible but less severe,
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/16/first-uk-omicron-victim-unvaccinated-pensioner-hooked-online/The UK's first omicron victim was an unvaccinated pensioner taken in by online conspiracy theories, his stepson has claimed.
The unnamed patient aged in his early 70s reportedly passed away on Monday in a Northampton hospital after falling ill with the Covid-19 variant at the beginning of this month.
His stepson, who identified himself only as John from Smithfield, told Nick Ferrari's radio show on LBC that his stepfather believed conspiracy theories that the pandemic was a hoax, and had refused to get vaccinated against the virus.
John told LBC: "He was a recluse, he never went out. He had his shopping brought to him. The only place he went to was the bin outside the block he lived in and the Post Office. He was one of the cleanest guys I've ever known.
"He wasn't vaccinated at all. My sister is gutted but on the other hand she's a little bit angry that he never took these vaccines. She had an argument with him at the end of October about this very thing - getting vaccinated. He thought it was a conspiracy. He was an intelligent man but it's all these different things you're getting from online and different media.
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"He ate healthily, he didn't smoke, he hadn't drank in 30 years near enough. He was scared. He started to look good then it just went boom downhill."
He added that if his stepfather had been vaccinated he might still be alive.
"Had he been vaccinated, he would probably still be here. He might be ill, but he'd still be here," said John.
"If you're vaccinated and you've got your booster, you should be alright. It's the ones that haven't got it, they're the ones that need to be worried now.
"If you were lying in a bed with a mask on with 80 per cent oxygen being fired at you, you'd have regrets I think - I would."
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, confirmed earlier this week that at least one person had died with the omicron variant in the UK.
There are currently 164 omicron cases confirmed in Northamptonshire.
Toby Sanders, the chief executive of Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group, told the BBC that the situation in the county was "very, very critical" and the rise of the omicron variant could "overwhelm" the NHS.
NHS England, the Department for Health and Social Care, and the UK Health Security Agency said they would not comment on individual cases.
Local health authorities in Northamptonshire declined to comment.
Omicron now represents 20 per cent of Covid-19 cases in England, Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs this week.
There are more than 4,700 confirmed cases of the variant in the country, with the first being identified on November 27.
Omicron multiplies 70 times faster in the airways than delta yet replicates 10 times more slowly in the lungs, which may explain why it is very transmissible but less severe, scientists have said.
Researc
as each hour passes by the looks of it
the future looks brighter
I put some money in here - a SA pal had tipped me off of issues in SA and Botswana - with one or two not feeling great - as usual news flow is suppressed by the authorities - watch this space as matters unfold
as usual
DYORamping(TM)
the stock or the butt bung?