HOSPITALS are “nowhere near out of the woods yet” as flu cases remain at record levels for this time of year, health officials warned today.

The figures were revealed as resident doctors in England entered the second day of their strike action in a bitter dispute with the government over jobs and pay.

Officials said the combination of strikes and rising flu levels has placed hospitals on “high alert.”

New NHS figures show the number of people in hospital in England with flu continues to rise and remains at a record level for this time of year, though the rate of growth has slowed.

An average of 3,140 flu patients were in hospital each day last week, up 18 per cent from 2,660 the previous week.

At this point last year, the number stood at 2,629 patients while in 2023 it was just 648.

The British Medical Association and the government have been urged by healthcare leaders to enter external mediation in a bid to end the ongoing dispute.

Conciliation service Acas said that it is “well prepared and ready to help with the dispute.”