Rising Covid cases will hit ‘all sectors’ in the UK with staff absences to cause even more disruption to Britons this summer, experts warned today on the eve of the biggest rail strike in decades.
Latest surveillance data shows cases rose by 40 per cent last week with one in 50 people infected in England — the largest weekly rise seen since Christmas. It is already piling pressure on busy hospitals.
The latest surge is being driven by Platinum Jubilee celebrations, half-term holidays and hot weather, as well as the emergence of the more contagious Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5.
As outbreaks grow across the UK, scientists fear that it could heap even more chaos on Britons during its summer of chaos.
It comes as rail workers are set to walkout from midnight for three days of strikes this week, while teachers, NHS doctors and bin collectors are also considering industrial action over pay and conditions in scenes not witnessed since the Winter of Discontent in the 1970s.
Covid staff sickness has caused misery for Britons during previous waves of the pandemic, leading to cancelled hospital operations, school closures and overflowing rubbish bins.
Professor Gary McLean, an immunologist from London Metropolitan University, told MailOnline Britain can expect an ‘increase in absenteeism from work across all sectors’. He warned it will ‘obviously impact’ the health service as workers stay at home to recover, even though the infected have not legally had to self-isolate since post-pandemic rules were ushered in in April.
Professor Robert Dingwall, a sociologist at Nottingham Trent University and former Government adviser, said any disruption could have ‘knock-on effects’ in sectors already suffering labour shortages, especially as people catch up on annual leave.
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