Norovirus continues to grip the NHS with the number of beds taken up by patients with the virus nearly 150% higher than last year, new figures reveal today.
The total remains close to its record high, with an average of 1,134 patients a day in hospital with norovirus last week – down slightly on the previous week (1,160), but still nearly two and a half times the same period last year (470).
It comes as visits to the NHS.uk webpage on norovirus have surged by 40% in the last week – from 53,052 (12-18 February) to 74,324 (19-25 February) – more than double the number of visits for the same week in 2023/24 (35,522).
Pressure on hospital capacity remained high last week with 95.3% of adult beds occupied, and a total of 96,807 patients in hospital each day.
The number of patients with Covid rose slightly on the week before – up 4% to 1,027 from 984. But the number of flu cases in hospital continues to fall with an average 1,656 patients in beds with flu last week, including 80 in critical care – down 5.7% on the week before (1,755).
Delays discharging patients to settings like social or community care remain high, with almost 1 in 7 beds taken up by patients who did not need to be there.
Emergency services continue to face high levels of demand with 94,480 ambulance handovers. Staff time lost to ambulance handover delays increased by more than a fifth in the last week (22,796 vs 18,688 hours).
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director of NHS England, said: “While it is good news norovirus cases dropped, they remain extremely close to the all-time high reported last week so we can be under no illusions about the continued pressure staff are still facing.
“Hospitals remain close to capacity in part because of seasonal illnesses, and it is vital that people do everything they can to reduce the spread of what can be a deeply unpleasant illness.
“To help stop the spread of norovirus, the medical advice is to wash your hands frequently with soap and water and avoid mixing with other people until you have not had symptoms for two days.
“While pressures on hospitals remains incredibly high, people should continue to use NHS services in the normal way – using 111 and 111 online if you need advice and support for health conditions, and only using 999 or attending A&E in life-threatening emergencies.”
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “These statistics show that we are still not out of the winter woods, and I want to thank all NHS staff for their hard work in the face of substantial pressures on the health service.
“We have taken important steps to reduce winter pressures this year, including getting doctors back on the frontline, rather than the picket line, and introducing the country’s first RSV vaccination scheme.
“Through the government’s Plan for Change, we will deliver the investment and reform required to turn our health service around, so it will be there for all of us when we need it, once again.”
Amy Douglas, Lead Epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: “Norovirus cases are still exceptionally high and we are seeing the biggest impacts in health and social care settings, such as hospitals and care homes.
“Symptoms of norovirus can be more severe in older adults, young children and those who are immunocompromised. If you have diarrhoea and vomiting please do not visit hospitals and care homes or return to work, school or nursery until 48 hours after your symptoms have stopped and don’t prepare food for others as you can still pass on the virus.
“Alcohol gels do not kill norovirus. Wash your hands with soapy warm water and clean surfaces with bleach-based products where possible to help stop the infection from spreading.”
The latest weekly winter data is available on the NHS England website: Statistics » Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports 2024-25
