Audio By Carbonatix
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt is calling for schools and borders to close "right away" as he warns the pressures facing hospitals are "off-the -scale worse" than previous winter crises.
The chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Committee says, while in previous years, elective care has been cancelled in January to protect emergency care that too is now under severe pressure, with "record trolley waits for the very sickest patients".
"Even more worryingly, fewer heart attack patients appear to be presenting in ICUs, perhaps because they are not dialling 999 when they need to," the Conservative MP said on Twitter.
"[The number one] lesson is countries that act early & decisively save lives & get their economies back to normal faster.
"We, therefore, cannot afford to wait: all schools should be closed, international travel stopped, household mixing limited and the tier system reviewed so that the highest tier really does bring down infection levels (as with the first lockdown)," Hunt concluded.
Latest Stories
-
Police arrest 3 suspects over taxi-based phone snatching syndicate
52 minutes -
He should ask himself why he entered politics – Nitiwul responds to Frimpong-Boateng
1 hour -
A construction crane falls on a passenger train in northeastern Thailand, killing at least 22 people
2 hours -
All systems go: A quantum leap for Africa’s farmers and the world
2 hours -
World central bank chiefs ‘stand in solidarity’ with US Fed chair Powell
2 hours -
US approves sale of Nvidia’s advanced AI chips to China
2 hours -
Bawumia focused on delegates, not rivals – Dominic Nitiwul
2 hours -
We should never lose in 2028 – Nitiwul frames 2028 as a must-win election for NPP
3 hours -
We have no time to market anyone else – Nitiwul says NPP’s 2028 ticket is already Bawumia’s
3 hours -
Losing 2028 elections would be catastrophic – Nitiwul warns NPP against first-timer gamble
4 hours -
Actor Kiefer Sutherland arrested over alleged assault of ride-share driver
4 hours -
MTN deploys AI to detect and block fraudulent Mobile Money messages
4 hours -
Claudette Colvin, US civil rights pioneer, dies at 86
7 hours -
Bawumia has no threat – Nitiwul says campaign is not about running others down
8 hours -
Rosenior to talk to Sterling and Disasi about Chelsea exile
8 hours