Covid hospital cases surge toward peak of first wave as doctors warn of ‘war zone’ wards & ‘overwhelmed’ NHS
DOCTORS have described their hospitals as “warzones” in danger of being "overwhelmed" with coronavirus patients as admissions look set to pass their April peak.
New figures show the number of patients in hospital with Covid-19 is just less than 400 short of the peak figure recorded in spring - before numbers started to fall.
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On April 12, there were 21,683 patients with coronavirus in British hospitals, just 397 more than there were on December 22.
On December 22, the last date with complete figures for the whole country, there were 21,286.
Doctors in Wales have now urged for anyone with experience working in intensive care to come forward, while according to The Times, experts have said a nationwide Tier 4 lockdown would be the safest way to reduce spreading.
'BLEAK SITUATION'
They also said the NHS and public health services were facing a “bleak” situation, and that the new mutant strain could lead to them being “overwhelmed”.
Michael Griffin, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh said: “January and February are going to be critical”.
The most up-to-date seven-day hospital admission average is 1,984 and if that current trend continues then it will pass the peak for patients that were in hospital beds in the spring.
Hospital admissions are currently at a higher figure than the week before the second lockdown - where there was a seven-day average of 1,191.
The number of patients that were admitted to hospital on December 20 is 2,143, according to the latest figures.
In April, there was a single day admission of 3,569 of patients.
The Department of Health website notes that not all the data will be updated everyday over the Christmas period - raises fears the true numbers will be much higher when they get published.
It comes as a senior NHS source told that the service now has the equivalent of 40 hospitals full of Covid-19 patients.
Hospitals have been ordered to mobilise all their "surge capacity" and some have even began setting up makeshift intensive care beds in paediatric and cancer wards.
'HORRENDOUS TIME'
Meanwhile, London Ambulance Service (LAS) received as many emergency calls on 26 December as it did at the height of the first wave of Covid-19, .
Nearly 8,000 calls were received, a 40% increase on a typical "busy" day.
One London paramedic told the BBC that some patients were being treated in ambulance bays upon arrival at hospital, due to a lack of beds inside.
"It's been a horrendous time," the paramedic said. "Ambulance staff are finding the whole situation very stressful."
It comes after Boris Johnson refused this week to rule out a third lockdown after Christmas.
The PM warned tougher restrictions could be needed to keep a mutant coronavirus strain “running out of control” in the New Year.
The rapid spread of the new variant, believed to be up to 70 per cent more contagious, saw millions of Brits in London and the South East of England plunged into a Tier 4 lockdown just before Christmas.
Further areas were thrown into Tier 4 on Boxing Day amid fears the new strain has already spread across the country.
Speaking at a press conference to announce the UK’s post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, Mr Johnson said the new variant had led to “very considerable new pressure” - and did not another national lockdown.
The PM said: “We believe that we’re going to have to get through this tough period now with, as I have said many times, very tough restrictions, with tough tiering.
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“As much as I regret that, I do think it is necessary for us to drive this virus now to stop it running out of control in January.
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“We need to buy ourselves time to get the vaccine into as many arms of the elderly and vulnerable as we can.”
Mr Johnson acknowledged that the last-minute cancellation of Christmas for millions of Brits was “very tough”, but stressed it would “continue to be difficult” because the new variant is spreading at an alarming rate.
