Covid is no weaker now, warns NHS chief

THERE is no evidence Covid-19 is weaker now than it was at the peak of the pandemic, the head of England’s biggest NHS hospital trust has warned.

Dr David Rosser, of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, dismissed claims the virus had “mutated” and warned of concerns about rising hospital admissions.

His warning was echoed by a public health official in the West Midlands, who said matters were at a “pivotal moment” in the fight against Covid-19. Dr Sue Ibbotson, West Midlands centre director for Public Health England, said the situation was “finely poised” for the region.

Public health officials have become increasingly worried about an increasing infection rate in younger people as they fail to observe social distancing.

Dr Rosser warned his trust had already witnessed an increase in patients being admitted with Covid-19. He said: “There’s been lots of talk about the increase we see in the community not coming through to the hospital – well, we are beginning to see that. We have actually had two people, one of them only 29, die in the last week of Covid.

“While it is nothing like it was in spring, we’re pretty worried. One thing there is clear scientific evidence for, going by what the experts at our trust tell me, is that the virus has not significantly mutated.

“There’s a lot of rumours and speculation going around that the virus has weakened. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that that is the case.”