The number of people in hospital with coronavirus is at its highest since February last year, figures show, amid increasing pressure on health services.
A total of 17,276 people were in hospital in the UK with Covid-19 as of January 4, government figures show, up 58 per cent on the previous week and the highest number since February 19.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the country is seeing its fastest growth in cases, as more than 20 National Health Service trusts declared a critical incident.
During the second wave of coronavirus, the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital peaked at 39,254 on January 18, 2021.
There were 2,258 Covid-19 hospital admissions on December 28, the latest UK-wide figure available, up 83 per cent week on week and the highest number since February 3.
Daily admissions during the second wave peaked at 4,583 on January 12, 2021.
In the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mr Johnson said hospital admissions were “doubling around every nine days”.
Number 10 said more than 20 trusts had now reached the alert level where priority services may be under threat, but stressed it was “not a good indicator” of the pressures the health service was under.
The University Hospitals Bristol, Weston NHS Foundation Trust and the North Bristol NHS Trust, which run hospitals including the Bristol Royal Infirmary, the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and Southmead, said they were at their “highest state of alert”.
The North East Ambulance Service said it asked for patients with “potentially non-life-threatening” conditions to be taken to hospital by a relative if an ambulance was delayed over the bank holiday weekend.
Morecambe Bay NHS Trust and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust were also among those declaring critical situations.
“I think my understanding on critical incidents, obviously the numbers do vary … it’s worth understanding that critical incidents can last, in some certain circumstances, a matter of hours, a morning or afternoon, a day, some of them can last longer than that," said the Prime Minister’s official spokesman.
“So they’re not a good indicator necessarily of how the NHS is performing. We know that there are a number of trusts that have reported critical incidents.
“I believe it’s more than 20 currently, but that number will fluctuate. But again, those critical incidents can vary in terms of their scale. Some can relate to one part of the trust, some can be across the whole trust.
"So it’s not a good indicator, necessarily, of NHS performance at any one time.”
Tories urge PM to outline exit strategy on how UK can live with Covid
Also in the Commons, Conservative MPs called on Mr Johnson to outline a Covid exit strategy and show how the UK can “live with this virus” in the long term.
He faced questions from his own backbenchers on when restrictions will be dropped, such as working from home guidance, and for assurances that certain sectors will be exempt from any future curbs.
Mr Johnson said face masks in schools would “not last a day more” than needed and noted there are no restrictions on weddings and funerals at the moment.
“That’s certainly the way we wish to keep it,” he said.
But Mr Johnson was also pressed to go further by some senior Tories on the wider plan to respond to the virus through 2022 and beyond.
Conservative former prime minister Theresa May commended him for resisting calls for more restrictions before Christmas and for further changes announced on Wednesday.
“We will see new variants appear in future and the likelihood is that they will continue to be less serious," she added in the Commons.
“It is not in the national interest to partially or wholly shut down sectors of our economy every time we see a new variant.”
Mr Johnson said a vaccine that “can deal with any type of Covid mutation” is needed, as well as therapeutics.
Conservative former minister Mark Harper asked him when he would set out a plan “to live with this virus, like normal, forever”.
“We cannot respond to every new variant in the way we have to this one," said Mr Harper, the MP for Forest of Dean. “When is he going to set that plan out in this House, so that we all know where we stand?”
Mr Johnson repeated that the “measures we have in place expire on January 26” as some Labour MPs could be heard shouting: “And then what? What is the plan?”
“Whatever the situation may be then, and I am confident that it will be much better ... we will continue with the fundamental, the tools that we have, that is vaccination, therapeutics and testing, but it is important that Omicron seems to provide some sort of immunity already against Delta,” he said.
Conservative former health minister Steve Brine pressed Mr Johnson on a “long-term plan for living with Covid in 2022”, as he suggested the current measures were not “sustainable”.
Mr Brine, the MP for Winchester, said Mr Johnson “deserves real credit” for his recent decisions on Covid.
“It is increasingly clear we are a long way from learning to live with Covid but we also have an NHS on a permanent war footing and that’s not sustainable," he said.
“So what is the long-term plan for living with Covid in 2022 and could that include any changes to mandatory isolation, test and trace as for instance we see different isolation dates in the US and Germany to here in the UK?”
Mr Johnson said the government would continue to “keep isolation timings under review” as it did not want to “release people back into society so soon”.
“As I said in my earlier answers, I do think we have a good chance of getting through this difficult wave and getting back to something like normality as fast as possible," he said.
“It is important that Omicron seems to provide some sort of immunity, for instance against Delta, that may be a positive augury for the future.”
Conservative former minister Sir Edward Leigh said Lincolnshire MPs had been told by NHS officials that “only two” intensive care beds in the county were taken by people “because of or with Covid”.
“Although there were large numbers of staff absences, a quarter of them were accounted by staff being absent because they were isolating," Mr Leigh said.
“So the suspicion is the NHS is not being brought to its knees by Covid but by these rules that require people to isolate for so long. So what is the road map for shortening the period of isolation?”
Mr Johnson responded: “Absences, although are high, are not as high as it has been at some other points in this pandemic. That’s no cause for complacency.
“What we will do is keep the period of isolation under constant review and if we think we can bring it down without increasing infection then of course we will.”
Usain Bolt's time for the 100m at major championships
2008 Beijing Olympics 9.69 seconds
2009 Berlin World Championships 9.58
2011 Daegu World Championships Disqualified
2012 London Olympics 9.63
2013 Moscow World Championships 9.77
2015 Beijing World Championships 9.79
2016 Rio Olympics 9.81
2017 London World Championships 9.95
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Men from Barca's class of 99
Crystal Palace - Frank de Boer
Everton - Ronald Koeman
Manchester City - Pep Guardiola
Manchester United - Jose Mourinho
Southampton - Mauricio Pellegrino
Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
Playing records of the top 10 in 2017
How many games the top 10 have undertaken in the 2017 ATP season
1. Rafael Nadal 58 (49-9)
2. Andy Murray 35 (25-10)
3. Roger Federer 38 (35-3)
4. Stan Wawrinka 37 (26-11)
5. Novak Djokovic 40 (32-8)
6. Alexander Zverev 60 (46-14)
7. Marin Cilic 43 (29-14)
8. Dominic Thiem 60 (41-19)
9. Grigor Dimitrov 48 (34-14)
10. Kei Nishikori 43 (30-13)
Not Dark Yet
Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer
Four stars
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
The permutations for UAE going to the 2018 World Cup finals
To qualify automatically
UAE must beat Iraq.
Australia must lose in Japan and at home to Thailand, with their losing margins and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
To finish third and go into a play-off with the other third-placed AFC side for a chance to reach the inter-confederation play-off match
UAE must beat Iraq.
Saudi Arabia must lose to Japan, with their losing margin and the UAE's winning margin over Iraq being enough to overturn a goal difference gap of eight.
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%3Cp%3EPresident%20Volodymyr%20Zelenskyy%20has%20overseen%20grain%20being%20loaded%20for%20export%20onto%20a%20Turkish%20ship%20following%20a%20deal%20with%20Russia%20brokered%20by%20the%20UN%20and%20Turkey.%3Cbr%3E%22The%20first%20vessel%2C%20the%20first%20ship%20is%20being%20loaded%20since%20the%20beginning%20of%20the%20war.%20This%20is%20a%20Turkish%20vessel%2C%22%20Zelensky%20said%2C%20adding%20exports%20could%20start%20in%20%22the%20coming%20days%22%20under%20the%20plan%20aimed%20at%20getting%20millions%20of%20tonnes%20of%20Ukrainian%20grain%20stranded%20by%20Russia's%20naval%20blockade%20to%20world%20markets.%3Cbr%3E%22Our%20side%20is%20fully%20prepared%2C%22%20he%20said.%20%22We%20sent%20all%20the%20signals%20to%20our%20partners%20--%20the%20UN%20and%20Turkey%2C%20and%20our%20military%20guarantees%20the%20security%20situation.%22%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
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Fuel economy, combined: 16.8L / 100km (estimate)
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
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Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
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Mohammed Abukhater, vice president at FireEye in the Middle East, said:
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Remaining fixtures
Third-place-play-off: Portugal v Mexico, 4pm on Sunday
Final: Chile v Germany, 10pm on Sunday
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
