Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the level of covid-19 infections as of 8 November 2022; and if he will make an assessment of the impact of the level of covid-19 infections on NHS services.

The Office for National Statistics’ Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey publishes weekly estimates of the number of positive cases among the population living in private households in the United Kingdom. The most recent estimate for the week ending 11 November 2022 is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/latest

No formal assessment of the most recent levels of Covid-19 infections and the impact on NHS services has been made. However, on 4 August 2022, the Government published ‘Direct and indirect health impacts of COVID-19 in England: emerging Omicron impacts’ which analyses the impact on National Health Service critical care capacity and secondary care, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/direct-and-indirect-health-impacts-of-covid-19-in-england-emerging-omicron-impacts/direct-and-indirect-health-impacts-of-covid-19-in-england-emerging-omicron-impacts#category-b-impact-of-covid-19-on-nhs-critical-care-capacity-1