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Covid news: Doctors warn NHS will ‘struggle to cope’ over winter, as Fauci says vaccine verdict could come next month

           (PA)
(PA)

Doctors in England said the NHS will “struggle to cope” over winter when facing the combined pressures of the coronavirus second wave and the growing backlog of patients requiring other treatments.

The revelation of NHS winter fears came as a government minister suggested the decision on whether families can gather in large groups over Christmas cannot yet be made, despite the prime minister’s “ambition”.

Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, said it was “too early to tell” if big family get-togethers would be allowed this year, in an appearance on Times Radio on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, the Welsh government announced it would review how the ban on supermarkets selling non-essential items during the firebreak lockdown was working.

First minister Mark Drakeford said the review was needed to ensure “common sense is applied”.

As the first weekend of the 17-day lockdown in Wales neared its end, a Senedd minister said it was likely the country would face another firebreak period as soon as January next year.

Lee Waters, the Welsh government’s deputy economy minister, said: “This is not the last lockdown we're likely to see.

"I think the projections in the papers we've published on our worst-case scenarios shows it's likely we're going to need to have another firebreak in January or February," he told BBC Radio Wales.