A NEW Covid variant has taken over and could drive a surge in cases – putting more pressure on the NHS, chiefs warn.
The BQ1 Omicron offshoot is now dominant and makes up 50.4 per cent of infections, compared to 39 per cent last week.
And flu is rising “significantly” with hospital patient numbers up 44 per cent in a week to 586.
Ambulance delays are already at record highs, with one in seven patients waiting longer than an hour to get into A&E.
Professor Stephen Powis, medical director at NHS England, warned: “We expect this to be the NHS’s most challenging winter yet.
“As we move towards Christmas we will see increasing levels of flu in the community and increasing numbers of patients needing admission to hospital.
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“We are also starting to see increases in the numbers of patients with Covid.
“There is a new variant circulating – BQ1 – which is becoming the dominant variant and it seems likely that is going to drive further increases.
“In some countries in Europe that have it you can already see growth in hospital admissions.
“No doubt those pressures will increase.”
It comes almost a year to the day after the milder Omicron strain was first discovered.
Studies have found the variant is less aggressive than earlier strains, including the original Wuhan variant, Alpha and Delta.
Dr Mary Ramsay, director of public health programmes at the UKHSA urged people to get their booster jabs, as she warned “we would expect to see the prevalence of Covid and other winter viruses begin to increase as people mix more indoors”.
“This is what the data is beginning to show,” she added.
“Covid hospitalisations are highest in the oldest age groups, so it is particularly important that everyone who is eligible comes forward to receive their booster jab.
“While Covid-19 and flu can be mild infections for many, we must not forget that they can cause severe illness or even death for those most vulnerable in our communities.”
Hospitals are crumbling under pressure as nurses and paramedics prepare to strike this month.
Figures show 11,389 ambulances were held outside for 60 minutes or more last week – and a third of all arrivals wait at least half an hour.
Clogged wards have just four in every 100 beds free for new patients in England.
Around 13,400 beds per day – 14 per cent of the total – are blocked by people who are healthy enough to go home but do not have care.
And staff shortages reached another record high in September, with 47,496 empty nurse posts making a third of the total 133,446 vacancies.
Director of the Royal College of Nursing, Patricia Marquis, said: “It’s easy to see why health and care is at breaking point.
“This is precisely the reason our members have decided to strike – the workforce gaps and being underpaid have made care unsafe.”
