According to the latest NHS data, a record 5.6 million people in England are waiting for treatment.
Ministers in the UK have ordered a major relaxation of coronavirus infection control measures in England’s hospitals in an effort to make it easier to tackle the backlog.
Meanwhile, scientists suggest that the fourth wave of Covid-19 may have started to gain momentum as cases spillover from school kids to their parents.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published on Friday showed rates have increased for those aged from two to school Year 11 in England.
Around one in 35 people in Years, 7 to 11 are estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to September 18 - the highest positivity rate for any age group.
The percentage testing positive decreased in all other age groups except for those aged 50 to 69, where the trend was uncertain.
The most recent Department of Health data aligns with this and shows that in 40-44-year-olds there are 361.2 cases per 100,000 in the week ending September 21.
This is up from 318.1 the previous week.
In those aged 45-49 there were 300.9 cases per 100,000 across the same time range - that's up from 264.4 the previous week.
In the younger adult cohort - where immunity may not yet be waning, in those 35-39, the infection rate was up slightly going from 267.6 to 276.2.
Don’t be complacent about infections in school kids
Microbiologist at Reading University, Dr Simon Clarke said ministers can't be complacent about the rise in infections in school-age kids.
"It is likely they [Covid cases] have gone from children. Parents have protection from the vaccine, but we know the protection is not complete", he told MailOnline.
Smokers still at risk
A study led by Oxford University is the first of its kind to look at both observational and genetic data on smoking and coronavirus. It was based on primary care records, Covid test results, hospital admissions data and death certificates.
The research concluded: 421,469 people were included in the research and among them, 1,649 tested positive for Covid, 968 were admitted to hospital related to the virus and 444 people died with Covid-19. The results showed that, compared with never-smokers, current smokers had an 80% higher risk of hospital admission with Covid-19. They were twice as likely to die if they smoked one to nine cigarettes a day, while those smoking 10 to 19 cigarettes a day were almost six times more likely to die. Among heavier smokers, people who smoked more than 20 a day, were over six times more likely to die compared to people who had never smoked.
The UK Health Security Agency has flagged that it is in fact aware some schools had received campaign letters and emails with misinformation about the vaccine programme.
Diabetics have suffered
According to media reports, estimates show that 2.4 million diagnostic diabetes tests were missed or delayed between the end of March and the end of September last year – including 213,000 missed pre-diabetes and 68,500 missed diabetes diagnoses.
A further 1.4 million monitoring tests in people with diabetes were also missed nationally, including over 500,000 in people with high blood glucose levels, according to new research being presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the study of Diabetes (EASD).
