The UK's Official National Health Service (NHS) records show a 40% increase in the number of flu patients in the UK being treated in hospitals over the previous week.

Last week, 482 persons were admitted to the hospital with the flu each day on average, up from 344 the week before.

Additionally, the number of adult norovirus cases increased by more than 25%, with 157 beds being occupied every day last week, up from 126.

The norovirus is frequently referred to as the "winter vomiting bug" since it causes severe illness in patients for only a few days.

The announcement comes as the NHS is reportedly facing a "perfect storm" of difficulties this winter, with high occupancy rates for general and acute adult rooms overall.

Nearly every day last week, patients who did not fit the requirements to stay in a hospital occupied more than 13,000 beds.

On average, 13,364 patients who could be dismissed remained in the hospital, up from 13,179 in the previous seven days and more than a quarter more than the most recent comparable statistics.

The release of the new data coincides with an NHS announcement that more than 40 hospital "traffic control centers" are now operational.

The centers, sometimes known as "war rooms," were unveiled in October as a component of a larger strategy to deal with the challenges of the coming winter.

'Badge of shame' 

The increase in energy costs brought on by the Western sanctions on Ukraine, cost the UK economy £140 billion, according to Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt.

"It's like the economy supporting an entire second NHS (National Health Service)," the chancellor said.

When asked if the NHS was in danger of failing as a result of the Covid pandemic, Hunt acknowledged that there were "massive pressures" on the system and "unbearable pressure" on the medical staff.

However, he denied a 17% pay rise demand made by the largest nursing union in Britain, which last week decided to go on strike for the first time in its 106-year history. "We have to recognize a difficult truth that if we gave everyone inflation-proof pay rises, inflation would stay," he said.

Prior to Hunt's budget, the opposition Labour party charged that after 12 years of Conservative rule, the government had left public services like the NHS "on their knees."

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