'People don't think it's a thing anymore': Top doctor warns Covid is 'still here and still wreaking havoc'

One of Greater Manchester's top doctors has told how patients with covid symptoms 'don't believe' they might be infected, as she warned the virus is 'still here and still wreaking havoc'. Dr Helen Wall, a GP and NHS Greater Manchester's clinical director of population health, says coronavirus cases in hospitals had been rising since the beginning of September.

While the lack of testing means it's difficult to give accurate infection rates, currently around 3% of patients in Greater Manchester hospitals have the virus. Dr Wall said: "It certainly feels like more patients are presenting with covid symptoms. It feels like covid is on the upsurge again."

One of the problems, Dr Wall said, is that many people now 'don't seem to believe their severe viral symptoms might be covid'. She added: "It's been really hard to convince people [that they have covid]. Maybe they don't want to admit it or don't think it's a thing anymore.

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"People just don't want to go there. It feels like life is back to normality, but unfortunately working in health care, everyday we are faced with the fact that it's still here and wreaking havoc."

Dr Wall said increasing infections may be down to waning vaccine immunity - only 60% of people in Greater Manchester eligible for the latest booster took up the offer - the emergence of new variants and the onset of winter. Patients are reporting a wide range of now familiar symptoms, including fever, coughs and fatigue, but Dr Wall says more and more people are complaining of 'horrific headaches.

She said: "The viruses affect every cell