Overview
- New NHS England data show an average of 2,660 flu in-patients per day last week, up 55% week on week and the highest recorded for this point in the year.
- Critical care pressure is rising, with 106 flu patients in ICU last week compared with 69 the week before.
- UKHSA attributes the surge to a drifted A(H3N2) subclade K, noting a poorer vaccine match but continued protection against severe illness.
- Hospitals are under strain with local critical incidents and renewed mask recommendations in clinical areas; Royal Stoke reported 73 in-patients and a 48-hour critical incident.
- Other winter pressures are growing, with norovirus hospitalisations up about 35% and an impending resident doctors strike posing further staffing risks.