‘Plan B’ Covid measures must be enforced immediately to prevent the UK ‘stumbling to a winter crisis’, an NHS leader has warned.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, has urged the Government to implement the back-up strategy, including mandatory face masks and working from home.
His remarks came as the UK recorded 223 Covid deaths on Tuesday – the highest number since early March.
Meanwhile, Monday, saw the highest number of new infections since mid-July with cases now at their highest level in three months.
Although Downing Street has said it is keeping a ‘very close eye’ on the figures, a spokesperson warned the prime minister has ‘absolutely no plan to introduce Plan B’.
Under this strategy, people could be asked to work from home again and vaccine certificates would be required for nightclubs.
Currently, ministers are pressing ahead with Plan A, which centres on flu jabs and Covid booster vaccines in keeping cases down and protecting the NHS.
But last month, Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that lockdowns would be considered as a ‘last resort’ if this plan did not work.
Mr Taylor said the NHS is preparing for what could be ‘the most challenging winter on record’ and urged the public to show extra support for the NHS by ‘behaving in ways that will keep themselves and others safe’.
He added: ‘It is time for the Government to enact Plan B of its strategy without delay because without pre-emptive action, we risk stumbling into a winter crisis.
‘Also, health leaders need to understand what a ‘Plan C’ would entail if these measures are insufficient.
‘The Government should not wait for Covid infections to rocket and for NHS pressures to be sky high before the panic alarm is sounded.’
The NHS Confederation is the membership organisation that brings together, supports and speaks for the whole healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Mr Taylor said if the Government ‘fails to get a grip’ on rising coronavirus cases, the nation’s recovery from the pandemic could be ‘put at risk’.
It comes after warnings that waiting six hours for an ambulance could be ‘commonplace’ this winter.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman has previously said Plan B would only be used if there was a ‘significant risk of the NHS being overwhelmed’ and we are ‘not at that point’.
The spokesman said: ‘There are a number of different factors that would play into that decision.
‘Largely it would be required when there was a significant risk of the NHS being overwhelmed.
‘We are not at that point. Because of the vaccination programme, the levels we are seeing in both patients admitted to hospital and deaths are far lower than we saw in previous peaks.’
On Tuesday, Professor Neil Ferguson, a leading member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said he thinks Plan B could be implemented in England this winter, but it is unlikely ‘we’ll ever get close’ to the lockdown the country experienced in January.
Mr Taylor called for a ‘Plan B plus’, saying the UK should replicate the ‘national mobilisation’ that it ‘achieved in the first and second waves’.
Speaking to The Guardian he said: ”We are right on the edge – and it is the middle of October.
‘It would require an incredible amount of luck for us not to find ourselves in the midst of a profound crisis over the next three months.
‘The government ought to not just announce that we’re moving to plan B, but it should be plan B plus. We should do what’s in plan B in terms of masks [and] working from home, but also we should try to achieve the kind of national mobilisation that we achieved in the first and second waves, where the public went out of their way to support and help the health service.’
It comes amid concern that the sluggish rollout of the Covid booster programme could see a huge spike in infections this winter.
The UK is no longer in the top rank of European countries in terms of overall vaccination coverage, particularly in vaccinating teenagers.
Just over 67% of the UK population has received two doses of vaccine, according to Government figures – compared with at least 75% in Denmark, 79% in Spain and 86% in Portugal.
The UK now has one of the highest weekly rates of new reported cases in the world.
The weekly rate of new reported cases of Covid-19 in the UK has jumped from 367 cases per 100,000 people at the start of October to its current level of 463 per 100,000.
By contrast, rates have dropped to very low levels in neighbouring countries such as Spain (24 per 100,000), France (48) and Germany (80).
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