UK - 53,135 New COVID-19 coronavirus cases - NHS facing "unprecedented pressures" - December 29, 2020

[kiwibird]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55475240

A surge in coronavirus cases in the UK is of "extreme concern", a health boss says, as a record number of cases was reported for the second day running.

On Tuesday, 53,135 new Covid cases were recorded as well as 414 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Not all data was reported in full over the Christmas period, leading to a lag in some data, but Public Health England said there had been a "real increase".

The health secretary said the NHS was facing "unprecedented pressures".

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...iant?page=with:block-5feb24858f08b66486e294ab

Researchers were “able to sequence the variant of the B117 virus in a person infected in November this year”, the health ministry of Lower Saxony said in a statement referring to the new variant.

This is the same variant “responsible for a large proportion of the infections detected in the south of England,” it said.

The variant was found in an elderly patient with underlying health conditions who has since died. His wife was also infected but survived, Agence France-Presse reports.

The couple caught the virus after their daughter returned from a trip to Britain in mid-November, where she “in all likelihood” became infected with the new strain.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13594...e-covid-lockdown-hospitals-deaths-tests-live/

DESPERATE hospitals may be forced to set up coronavirus units in tents OUTSIDE their main buildings, it has been claimed.

Emergency medicine consultant Simon Walsh, deputy chair of the British Medical Association's UK consultants committee patients are already being left in ambulances for hours at a time because hospitals are overwhelmed.

"Hospitals are even considering setting up tents that you would see outside in an actual major incident," he told the Press Association news agency.

His comments come as critical care doctor Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden said hospitals are now so desperate they're urging unqualified medical students to volunteer their services to help treat intensive care patients.

"Hospitals are running out of oxygen. One trust has no non-invasive machines left. ICUs are tweeting for volunteers to prone patients. Transfer teams being requested to move patients 65+ miles to nearest hospital with critical care capacity," she tweeted.

 

[kiwibird]

https://newsopener.com/uk/how-a-quarter-of-hospitals-are-operating-at-covid-danger-zone/

A quarter of England’s hospitals were treating a ‘dangerous’ number of Covid patients in the run up to Christmas, official figures show amid the looming threat of a third national lockdown.

https://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/covid-tiers-meeting-boris-johnson-4839270

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to meet with ministers today amid suggestions he may be about to tighten Covid restrictions.

The PM is due to meet at 6pm to look at whether regions should move tiers, according to Sky political correspondent Rob Powell.

He said the meeting is also expected to discuss the issue of keeping schools shut for longer.

The Sky reporter also says that in the wake of that meeting, Health Secretary Matt Hancock will tell MPs about new tiering decisions in the Commons tomorrow after the Brexit deal has been voted on.

"This could be when any changes to schools are announced," he said, speaking on his Twitter account.

BBC News reports more people in hospital due to Covid than in the first wave.

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55480761

Covid: Millions more braced for tougher rules in England

Millions more people in England are to be placed under the toughest tier four coronavirus restrictions as case numbers continue to rise.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out the details of which areas will change in a Commons statement later.

Infection rates in lower tier areas of England have risen rapidly in the last seven days, government data shows.

Tier four rules include a "stay at home" order, and mean businesses such as hairdressers and gyms must close.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Matt Hancock said: "It is clear as we have seen from the data in the last few days that the number of infections is going up - that's unfortunately not just happening in the London and the South East as it was in the last few weeks but it's starting to happen elsewhere in the country," he said

 

[sharon sanders]

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