'SIMPLY UNTRUE'
Doctors insist wards are NOT full of kids with Covid as nurse slammed for ‘irresponsible’ claims on BBC radio
DOCTORS have said hospital wards are not full of children with coronavirus following "irresponsible" claims made by a nurse in a radio interview.
It comes amid concern over the spread of the new strain of coronavirus throughout the UK and the impact it is expected to have on the country's hospital wards in the coming weeks.
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Today saw the UK record its largest daily jump in cases since the start of the pandemic, with 57,725 positive tests reported.
The highest infection rates are in London and the southeast, with reports suggesting that intensive care wards across the capital are now operating at or near capacity.
A report from Imperial College London has also suggested that the new strain of coronavirus appears to be spreading quickly among children - although there is no evidence to suggest the symptoms they experience are any more severe.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday, Laura Duffell, a paediatric matron at a London hospital, said: "It was minimally affecting children in the first wave.
"We have a whole ward of children here, and I know that some of my colleagues are in the same position, where they have whole wards of children with Covid."
Dr Ronny Cheung is a paediatrician who also serves as a representative for child health on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Indicators Advisory Committee
Taking to to the interview, he wrote: "I've been the on call consultant in a London children's hospital this week.
"This is simply not true, and irresponsible in the extreme - frightens parents, fuels covid-deniers.
"Covid is rife in hospitals, but not among children. We have enough to deal with without this garbage."
Dr Cheung later said he did not mean to accuse Ms Duffell of lying, but said it was "very important [her comments are] not misconstrued for worried parents".
"Anyone who uses [my comments] to deny covid/ cry conspiracy can get stuffed," he said.
"I'm also not saying children do not get covid, nor that the new strain may not be more easily spread (we don't know for sure yet).
"But they are not all getting seriously ill and being admitted in great swathes, and that is corroborated by my colleagues across London."
CHILDREN'S WARDS 'OFTEN BUSY IN WINTER'
Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, also sought to refute the claims.
"Children's wards are usually busy in winter," he said in a statement.
"As of now we are not seeing significant pressure from Covid-19 in paediatrics across the UK.
"As cases in the community rise there will be a small increase in the number of children we see with Covid-19, but the overwhelming majority of children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only.
"The new variant appears to affect all ages and, as yet, we are not seeing any greater severity amongst children and young people."
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Responding to criticism online, Ms Duffell later said on twitter: "I'm not trying to scare people.
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"But people should know that this wave is not isolated to the older generation.
"If I save a single life through making people think twice before mixing with others surely it is worth sharing what we are dealing with day in day out in hospitals."
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