London: British medics warned Friday that hospitals around the country face a perilous few weeks amid surging new coronavirus infections that have been blamed on a new variant of the virus.
A day after the UK posted a record 55,892 new infections and another 964 coronavirus-related deaths, concerns are mounting about the impact on the overstretched National Health Service. Field hospitals that were constructed in the early days of the pandemic but that were subsequently mothballed are being reactivated.
The Royal College of Nursing’s England director, Mike Adams, told Sky News that the UK was in the “eye of the storm” and that it was “infuriating” to see people not following the social distancing guidance or wearing masks.
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ESSEX today called in the Army after declaring a major incident at their crippled hospitals with patients being treated in the back of ambulances.
Sir Bernard Jenkin, MP for Harwich and North Essex, made the plea as it was revealed frontline workers are facing unprecedented pressure.
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Patients could be treated in triage tents - usually reserved for large-scale disasters, like terror attacksCredit: AFP - Getty
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Ambulance crews are under unprecedented pressure, it was claimedCredit: Twitter/lizbenne
He asked Health Secretary Matt Hancock for military support in building extra hospitals and to help roll out the Covid vaccine.
Sir Bernard told MPs today: I can confirm that Essex has declared a major incident and can I also inform [Hancock] that at this very moment they are submitting a request for military assistance to the civil authority, a MACA request to assist with the construction of community hospitals, additional hospital capacity and supported by
Deaths of covid positive patients have started to rise again
Midlands has the highest number of patients
All seven NHS England regions are now struggling under covid inpatient demand not seen since the peak of the pandemic in April.
At the same time, deaths of covid positive hospital patients have started to rise once more.
The number of covid positive inpatients in English hospitals rose 2,256 to 16,183 over the seven days to 19 December. The 16.2 per cent increase compares to one of 7.4 per cent in the previous seven-day period, underlining the accelerating nature of the pandemic.
The number of inpatients has now been increasing for a fortnight at an average rate of 229 a day. If that rate is maintained, the English NHS will end 2020 with approximately the same number of covid positive inpatients as at the peak of the pandemic on 12 April.
Hadleigh crash: Woman taken to hospital after hit and run basildonstandard.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from basildonstandard.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A woman was taken to hospital after rush hour ‘hit and run’ at a busy junction. The pedestrian was hit on the junction of Hadleigh Park Avenue and Benfleet Road in Hadleigh yesterday afternoon. The road and junction was closed for a time and witnesses reported that the car hit the woman who was crossing the road. They also said she was seen sitting up before being loaded on a body board. An East of England Ambulance Service Trust said: An ambulance attended to a female who had been hit by a car on the junction of Hadleigh Park Avenue and Benfleet Road in Hadleigh yesterday just before 4.30pm. The patient was transported to Southend University Hospital for treatment.