Hospital leaders have expressed concern at the strain on the NHS even before young people return to school and university in the autumn, after deaths in hospital from Covid-19 reached their highest level in England for five months and hospitalisations continued to increase.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed deaths from Covid in England rose almost 10 per cent between early and mid-August. Deaths from Covid in hospitals in England and Wales, at 468, were the worst since late March, although still well below the levels seen at the height of the second wave.
Over the past seven days the number of people hospitalised has risen by 9.1 per cent, according to data up to August 20.