NHS trusts in England declare critical incident as hospital admissions near January high

NHS hospital services in parts of England have been reduced to critical cases only as Covid-19 hospitalisations near the first Omicron peak levels. This puts pressure on government attempts to promote the new social care levy intended to inject billions into the NHS. Health workers note the renewed surges due to the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant have exacerbated services as the remaining pandemic restrictions are being lifted.