Flu cases are skyrocketing, causing huge problems for hospitals, NHS England bosses are warning. Last week the number of patients in hospital in England with the virus topped 5,400 a day on average – around 1,000 higher than a week before.

Multiple hospitals across the country have declared critical incidents after emergency departments were swamped by a surge in winter flu cases. As of Tuesday evening, NHS England confirmed at least a dozen hospitals had declared the health system’s highest alert level as the rise in respiratory cases led to “exceptionally high demands”.