UK Covid admissions UP by 2% as deaths rise by another 167 amid fears of ‘regional lockdowns’

UK COVID hospital admissions are up by 2 per cent as deaths soar by another 167 amid fears of “regional lockdowns” returning.

A further 863 people were admitted to hospital with coronavirus on Sunday, a week-on-week rise of 1.8 per cent.

But daily death figures have dropped by 6.2 per cent on the 178 fatalities recorded last Thursday.

The number of positive tests recorded has also decreased, with today’s 38,013 cases 0.4 per cent lower than the 38,154 seen this day last week.

It comes amid concerns that dreaded regional lockdowns could soon make a comeback in the UK.

Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist at King’s College London, said localised rules may be necessary in winter, when viruses circulate easier. 

While the UK is seeing generally flat Covid rates, Scotland’s coronavirus cases continue to climb with hospitals feeling the strain.

Prof Spector, who leads the ZOE Covid Symptom Study app, says this shows we “need to start looking regionally” at how we deal with the virus.

Localised restrictions have been used before, down to postcode level.

But a more widespread approach has been used in each home nation in 2021. 

Prof Spector said: “If we look at the picture across the country, you can see most regions are staying flat or declining slightly which is fantastic news.

“The only region going up is Scotland, and it’s high and getting higher, and it’s the highest ever incidence rate we’ve seen since we started collecting our records. 

“It means we can’t be complacent and also means we need to start looking regionally, rather than globally, because each region will have different pressures on its health service.

“Some sort of regional restrictions might be coming as we approach flu season in some areas. But I think it’s going to be  a very different picture around the country.

“I hope I’m wrong, and this is a localised problem to Scotland. We don’t really understand why Scotland has done so badly recently, and this hasn’t had the same effect on England and Wales.”