Covid: Lancashire health chief fears 'tsunami' of Omicron cases

Lancashire is bracing for a "tsunami of Omicron" after an NHS trust declared a critical incident, a health director has said.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, which serves Lancashire and South Cumbria, is the latest trust to take the step "to protect services".

It comes amid rising staff shortages due to Covid-19.

Dr Sakthi Karunanithi said the county was at "the foothills" of an Omicron wave.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the public health director for Lancashire County Council said the county was beginning to experience what London did at the beginning of last month.

"London is better resourced and the infrastructures are well organised compared to other regions, so we are bracing ourselves for a tsunami of Omicron cases in Lancashire," he said.

"We are clearly seeing a shift from 20s and 30s and 40-year-olds being affected by Omicron to a clear shift to a more 60-plus age group being affected.

"That is what is causing us concern as well as the immediate concern being absence, staff absence, both in the NHS and education - schools are just going to re-open this week.

"But this is all meaning that we are not able to concentrate on the non-Covid issues.

"That's really needing to be addressed immediately as well, so it's a double challenge we face. Not only fighting Covid but all the other pent-up demand and need due to non-Covid issues."

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