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Key industries including transport and healthcare are being hit by staff shortages as the wave of Omicron infections spreads across the UK.
Trains services could be cancelled, Christmas deliveries delayed and waste may go uncollected due to the vast number of people who are off sick.
Cases of the new Covid variant are accelerating faster than in the first wave in some parts of the country and have already reached levels not seen since early this year.
Experts have predicted things are likely to get worse in the coming weeks and, although Omicron may not kill as many people, the repercussions are likely to be felt widely.
England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty reportedly told cabinet yesterday that the country should be bracing itself for mass worker absences.
Hundreds of ScotRail trains have already had to be cancelled due to staff illness, the TSSA union claimed as it called for furlough payments to be reintroduced alongside new restrictions.
Manuel Cortes, the union’s general secretary, said: ‘We know that Omicron has a higher attack rate than any previous variant of Covid-19. It will soon be the dominant form across Britain, putting essential services at risk, and straining our NHS.
‘Hundreds of ScotRail trains have been cancelled due to illness. We need to take action now to break the chains of transmission.
‘It’s essential that the Westminster government acts now and reintroduces the furlough job retention scheme to save jobs and support businesses whose staff can’t work from home, before our NHS is overwhelmed.’
Around 100 London Tube drivers have also been forced to miss work due to Covid, The Guardian reported.
Earlier this week, West Midlands Railway said there had been an increase in Covid cases among its crews and cancellations were likely as a result.
In hospitals, doctors and nurses have been hit by illness while others have been diverted to work on the booster rollout.
Although its not expected that any healthcare settings will close, NHS bosses are concerned staff shortages will add to the already significant winter pressures.
Royal Mail has said a small number of its offices are struggling to deliver six days a week at present due to difficulties related ‘to local issues such as Covid-related self-isolation, high levels of sick absence, resourcing or other local factors’.
A spokesperson stressed deliveries were operating as normal across most of the country.
Schools and nurseries are also being hit by absences in the last weeks of term as cases are high among young people.
Department for Education figures showed 2.4% of teachers are absent in state schools in England, up from 2% two weeks earlier.
Nurseries have seen cases hit an all time high after a 38% rise in a week, according to figures released by Ofsted.
The 2,707 Covid notifications seen in the week November 15 – 22, before the Omicron wave began, was the highest since figures first started being recorded in September 2020.
Early Years Alliance, an educational charity with 14,000 members in England, said nurseries were again facing a loss of income and rising staffing shortages.
Staff sickness is also likely to add to supply chain problems caused by a lack of HGV drivers and several councils have warned residents their bins may take longer to be collected in the run up to Christmas.
Meanwhile, several West End shows have cancelled performances due to Covid cases among cast and crew.
The Lion King, Life of Pi, and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time have all be affected.
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