People in the UK have been warned to wear face masks and avoid contact with others if they become unwell.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) this week issued advice as the NHS is faces one of its busiest periods ever due to a wave of "deadly" winter illnesses, such as Strep A, flu and Covid. Hospitalisation rates have soared, and waiting times are at their busiest ever.
It's now feared that people are losing their lives unnecessarily due to not being seen quickly enough in hospital. The scenes have been described as "Dickensian crowding", the Mirror reports.
In light of this, Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA, has given some advice on what people should do if they become unwell.
Some of the most important points included staying at home, wearing a face mask if you do need to go out, and avoiding contact with vulnerable people.
In a statement, she said: "It’s important to minimise the spread of infection in schools and other education and childcare settings as much as possible.
"If your child is unwell and has a fever, they should stay home from school or nursery until they feel better and the fever has resolved."
She continued: "Adults should also try to stay home when unwell and if you do have to go out, wear a face covering. When unwell don’t visit healthcare settings or visit vulnerable people unless urgent.
"Remember that flu vaccination is still available for all eligible groups and is the best protection against the virus.
"We have seen good uptake in older age groups but vaccination among young children remains low. Flu can be very unpleasant and in some cases can lead to more serious illness."
This onslaught of winter illnesses is what's likely to have caused the worst A&E wait times in history and the deaths of patients in the process, according to Royal College of Emergency Medicine chief Dr Adrian Boyle.
He said: "We think between 300 to 500 people are dying as a consequence of delays and problems with urgent and emergency care each week. We need to get a grip of this.
"I’d be amazed if December waiting time figures [yet to be released] are not the worst we’ve seen.
"We need to increase our capacity, make sure there are alternative ways so people aren’t all just funneled into the ambulance service and emergency department."
The ONS said in December that around one in 50 people in Scotland were infected with Covid, with cases of the flu also rising sharply.
Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, told Sky News: "I know that people watching this will say 'well every winter you have doctors on that say that this winter is terrible, that it's normal winter pressures'.
"But there is a complete acceptance from all colleagues now that this is different from all previous winters — and we need urgent action now."
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