COVID hospital rates: What's really happening in London's hospitals

When we talk about COVID hospital rates, the number of people admitted to hospitals due to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections. Also known as COVID admission rates, it's not just a number—it's a pulse check on how the city's health system is handling the virus after years of emergency response. In 2025, London’s COVID hospital rates are nowhere near the peaks of 2020 or 2021. But they haven’t vanished. They’ve settled into a quiet, steady rhythm—mostly affecting people over 65, those with weakened immune systems, and residents in care homes. The NHS doesn’t issue daily alerts anymore, but the data still tracks it: about 150 to 250 people per week are admitted across Greater London with COVID as a primary or contributing factor. That’s down from over 2,000 a week in early 2022.

What’s driving these numbers now? It’s not one big wave. It’s smaller, smarter variants like XEC, a new Omicron subvariant first detected in London that spreads quickly but doesn’t cause more severe illness than earlier strains. These variants don’t knock people flat—they creep in. Fatigue, a scratchy throat, a lost sense of taste. Many don’t even get tested. But when they’re over 70 or have COPD or heart disease, those symptoms can turn into pneumonia, and that’s when they end up in hospital. Meanwhile, NHS capacity, the ability of hospitals to handle patient volume without delays or cancellations. is still stretched thin. Staff shortages, backlogs from the pandemic, and rising demand for other services mean even a small uptick in COVID admissions can ripple through A&E and ICU beds.

What you won’t hear on the news is how local clinics are quietly adapting. Walk-in centers now offer free rapid tests and antiviral prescriptions for high-risk patients. Pharmacies are handing out Paxlovid without a GP referral in some boroughs. And the elderly are getting boosted again—not because it’s mandatory, but because they know what last winter felt like. The real story behind COVID hospital rates, the number of people admitted to hospitals due to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections. isn’t about panic. It’s about resilience. It’s about knowing when to act, when to rest, and when to ask for help before things get worse.

Below, you’ll find real reports from Londoners who’ve seen the changes firsthand—from nurses tracking admissions in east London to community volunteers helping seniors get their vaccines. You’ll see data that’s not sugarcoated, stories that aren’t sensationalized, and updates that actually matter. No fluff. Just what’s happening, where, and why it still counts.