UK Covid alert moves to highest Level 5 for first time ever with NHS at significant risk of being overwhelmed

THE Covid threat level has today moved up to its highest level for the first time ever as the NHS faces the risk of collapsing.

Under the red level five alert, there is a “material risk” of hospitals being overwhelmed within weeks and stricter social distancing measures being put in place.

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It comes the Prime Minister Boris Johnson tonight announced a third national lockdown, as the new mutant strain of the virus continues to spread.

This afternoon the UK’s four Chief Medical Officers – including Prof Chris Whitty and NHS England’s medical director Prof Stephen Powis – announced the Covid alert would move to five – the highest level.

The PM said tonight: “Our hospitals are under more pressure from Covid than at any time since the start of the pandemic.

“In England alone, the number of Covid patients in hospitals has increased by nearly a third in the last week to almost 27,000 and that number is 40 per cent higher than the first peak in April.

“The number of deaths is up by 20 per cent and will sadly rise further.

“It’s clear we need to do more together to bring the new variant under control while our vaccines are rolled out. In England we must therefore go into a national lockdown.”

Echoing the message he delivered on March 23, the Prime Minister told people to “stay at home”.

Mr Johnson said without drastic action the NHS could be overwhelmed within 21 days.

In a joint statement, the UK’s four CMOs added: “Many parts of the health systems in the four nations are already under immense pressure.

“There are currently very high rates of community transmission, with substantial numbers of Covid patients in hospitals and in intensive care.

“Cases are rising almost everywhere, in much of the country driven by the new more transmissible variant.

“We are not confident that the NHS can handle a further sustained rise in cases and without further action there is a material risk of the NHS in several areas being overwhelmed over the next 21 days.”

Level five is introduced when transmission is high or rising which could ultimately cripple healthcare services.

It is determined by the UK’s R number and the number of confirmed Covid cases at any one time.

The system is different to the Covid tiers currently in place across the UK.

It comes as:

• Nicola Sturgeon plunges Scotland into lockdown with ‘stay at home’ orders
• The UK records its highest ever daily case toll of 58,748
• Experts claim serious cases of the coronavirus are not on the rise in kids despite claims ICU is “full of children”
• A cheap head lice drug could cut hospital deaths from the coronavirus by up to 80 per cent, experts believe
• London Nightingale Hospital set to reopen in days as cases continue to surge in the capital

The five levels were introduced as part of the government’s “road map” for navigating the UK out of the pandemic.

While outlining the dire situation the NHS faces, the four CMOs stressed the health service is open for business and “significant changes have been made so people can still receive life-saving treatment”.

The CMOs added: “It is absolutely critical that people still come forward for emergency care. If you require non-urgent medical attention, please contact your GP or call NHS 111.”

The UK moved down to Level three from four on June 19 as part of a gradual easing of lockdown measures.

But it rose again in September as infections continued to rise.

This is the first time Level five has been introduced and comes as a mutant strain of the disease rampages across the UK.

BREAKING POINT

Experts today said the rise in infections couldn’t be solely put down to the new variant, but highlighted that the NHS is currently “at breaking point”.

Dr Tom Wingfield, Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Physician at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine said the spread of the virus had been “damaging before the new variants”.

He said: “As a hospital doctor in Liverpool, I am also acutely aware that the spread of the coronavirus was rapid and damaging here and in other areas of northern England prior to the discovery of the new variant.

“Therefore, it is misplaced to cite the new variant as the sole – or even predominant – cause of the increase in cases, hospitalisations, and deaths from Covid-19 until we have more detailed evidence.

“Sadly, the NHS is currently – and yet again – at breaking point due to Covid-19. This is in addition to already heavy ‘standard’ winter pressures.

“It is clear that, in order to avoid prolonged crisis and an overwhelmed NHS, we need additional mitigation measures to those currently in place, which might include  – despite the harsh social and economic harms that it entails – a return to a national lockdown.”

The UK has seen the highest ever daily case toll of 58,784 today as new infections pass the 50,000 mark for the seventh day in a row.

Cases have remained high for a week now as hospitals struggle to cope with patients numbers – with 407 new deaths today.

Thousands of people are becoming infected each day after mingling at Christmas and the spread of the mutated strain.

A total of 75,431 people have now died since the start of the pandemic, with 2,713,563 cases reported.

In order to deal with the influx in cases the London Nightingale Hospital is preparing to open its doors once more.

Other Nightingales across England are also being “readied” for use if needed – after pictures showed the facilities lying empty and stripped bare.

It comes as Covid hospital admissions soared beyond the peak of the first wave in April and cases have been over 50,000 for the past six days.

A spokesperson for the NHS said the reopening date is under daily review, adding: “We are working hard to prepare NHS Nightingale Hospital London to take patients if necessary.

“It will provide rehabilitation for people who are recovering after an emergency hospital stay and who are not Covid positive, freeing up other beds in hospital for Covid patients.”

This afternoon Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director for Public Health England (PHE) urged people to follow hygiene and social distancing measures highlighted in the government’s “hands, face, space” campaign.

Commenting on today’s figures she said: “The continuous rise in cases and deaths should be a bitter warning for us all. We must not forget the basics – the lives of our friends and family depend on it.

“Keep your distance from others, wash your hands and wear a mask. This virus will transmit wherever you let your guard down.”