Overview
- Official NHS figures show an average of 2,660 flu patients in hospital each day last week, up 55% week on week, with no clear peak yet reported.
- A drifted influenza A(H3N2) subclade K now dominates in England, and UKHSA reports this year’s vaccine is providing strong protection for children and moderate protection for adults.
- Frontline leaders describe severe operational pressure, including corridor care and temporary clinical areas, as UKHSA advises people who feel unwell to stay home and consider masks if they must go out.
- Local services have reinstated some precautions and a handful of schools have closed or curtailed activities as transmission grows fastest in children, with admissions highest in older adults and under‑fives.
- A five-day resident doctors strike is scheduled to start on 17 December, and while ministers have tabled an offer to the BMA, analysts caution some of the alarm may reflect an earlier-than-usual season rather than greater peak severity.