A NURSE has described the "unbearable" conditions in their hospital as Covid-19 cases continue to rise fuelled by the new mutant strain.
The nurse, who works at the Whittington Hospital in north London, described patients being left in corridors.
They said some patients spend up to three hours in ambulances because of a lack of beds and one was left without oxygen when their cylinder ran out.
The health worker said: "I'm worried about patient safety because if these little things are happening now when we're short and it's busy, it's only going to get worse.
"I don't know what else will happen – it worries me."
It comes after one ICU worker said patient's were "fighting for ventilators" as the capital recorded high levels of the new 'super-strain' of Covid-19.
The UK has recorded 53,285 new infections and 613 new coronavirus deaths yesterday.
The total number of positive cases registered in the country is 2,542,065 and the death toll is 74,125, according to the latest data.
Follow the very latest news, updates and analysis of the coronavirus crisis in our live blog below.
- Chiara Fiorillo
YOUNG AND FIT PATIENTS IN ICU
- Chiara Fiorillo
DRONE IMAGES SHOW PEOPLE WAITING FOR COVID VACCINE
Footage taken from a drone shows a long line of people around a surgery waiting to receive their Covid jab.
Video production company boss James Millar, 35, captured the image.
People were queuing to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at Abington Park Surgery in Northampton.
More on the story here
The drone revealed a long line of people waiting to get the Covid jabCredit: South West News Service - Chiara Fiorillo
LABOUR WARNS OF COVID 'CLIFF EDGE' IN 2021
Labour has warned that Britons are facing a Covid "cliff edge" as the deadlines for ending fiscal support and protection approach.
Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said the toxic cocktail of a lack of savings mixed with the economic downturn caused by coronavirus meant 2021 could spell "financial ruin" for many.
Ms Dodds said: "The irresponsible decisions taken by the Conservatives over the last decade left many UK households without a penny in the bank going into this crisis.
"When Covid hit, they had nothing to fall back on – and now some are teetering on the brink of financial ruin as several Covid support cliff edges loom."
- Chiara Fiorillo
EXPERTS CALL FOR TOUGHER LOCKDOWN
Professor Jim Naismith from Oxford University has called for tougher lockdown measures as the next few weeks are expected to be "nail-bitingly difficult".
Experts at Imperial College found the new Covid-19 strain to be "hugely" more infectious than the original version detected.
Prof Naismith said: “Unless we do something different the new virus strain is going to continue to spread, more infections, more hospitalisations and more deaths."
- Chiara Fiorillo
NORTH BRACES FOR NEW COVID WAVE
Professor Dominic Harrison, director of Public Health for Blackburn with Darwen council has warned another coronavirus wave is set to hit the North of England.
He said: "As the first national lockdown was effectively lifted at an earlier stage in Lancashire than the rest of the UK, we exited with much higher infection rates.
“Those ‘hotter embers’ re-ignited more quickly across the county and this meant that we had higher rates than the UK from August.”
You can read more here
- Chiara Fiorillo
BRITS ATTEND UNDERGROUND RAVE WITH 2,500 REVELLERS IN FRANCE
Some Brits reportedly attended an underground rave party with 2,500 revellers in Brittany, France.
The party was held in a disused hangar in Lieuron about 24 miles south of Rennes, on New Year's Day.
A press release from the prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine said around 2,500 participants "from different departments and from abroad" had gathered.
Police then shut the party down.
Some Brits are said to have attended the partyCredit: Getty Images - Chiara Fiorillo
LATEST COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS IN THE UK
- Chiara Fiorillo
UNION CALLS FOR ALL SCHOOLS TO BE CLOSED FOR TWO WEEKS
The National Education Union's joint general secretary Dr Mary Bousted has said her union is calling for all schools to be closed for two weeks.
She told BBC Breakfast: "We wrote to the Prime Minister before Christmas and we said if you look at the infection rates now among secondary school pupils they're the highest range in being infected with Covid and primary pupils are the second-highest age range.
"We know that pupils now can transmit the virus through their homes, through to their families and into the community, they're the most effective transmitter of the virus.
"You combine that with the new variant being up to 70 per cent more infective than the previous Covid virus which was very infective, then it's clear we have to do something to break the chain of rising levels of infection in our community."
- Chiara Fiorillo
NUMBER OF COVID PATIENTS IN HOSPITALS AT RECORD LEVELS
The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals is at record levels in many areas of England – including London, the South West and the Midlands.
Admissions are rising above the levels seen during the first wave.
- Chiara Fiorillo
'UNBEARABLE' HOSPITAL CONDITIONS ARE AFFECTING PATIENT SAFETY, SAYS NURSE
A nurse has described the "unbearable" conditions in their hospital as Covid-19 patient numbers continue to rise.
The nurse, who works at the Whittington Hospital in north London, described patients being left in corridors, some spending up to three hours in ambulances because of a lack of beds and one being left without oxygen when their cylinder ran out.
The nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the PA news agency: "I'm worried about patient safety because if these little things are happening now when we're short and it's busy, it's only going to get worse.
"I don't know what else will happen – it worries me."
- Joseph Gamp
COPS PELTED WITH BOTTLES AS THEY SHUT DOWN ILLEGAL NYE RAVE
Police officers were pelted with bottles as they shut down an illegal New Year's Eve rave – while hundreds trashed a 500-year-old Essex church.
Boozy Brits flouted Covid rules to see 2020 off with a party – despite most of us being under the strictest Tier 4 measures as a mutant strain of the virus rips through the country.
Read more here.
- Joseph Gamp
LABOUR SAYS GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS U-TURN CAUSING 'HUGE STRESS
Labour's shadow education secretary Kate Green said the last-minute nature of the Government's London schools decision had caused "huge stress" for pupils, families and staff.
She said: "This is yet another Government U-turn creating chaos for parents just two days before the start of term.
"Gavin Williamson's incompetent handling of the return of schools and colleges is creating huge stress for parents, pupils, and school and college staff and damaging children's education.
"The Government failed to get mass testing for schools and colleges in place when Labour called for it and they have failed to develop credible plans for remote learning when pupils cannot be in school.
"This U-turn was needed to provide consistency in London. However, Gavin Williamson must still clarify why some schools in Tier 4 are closing and what the criteria for reopening will be.
"School and college staff urgently need reassurance that the Government is putting proper support in place to make all schools Covid secure work environments."
- Joseph Gamp
GAVIN WILLIAMSON SAYS EDUCATION 'REMAINS A PRIORITY' DESPITE U-TURN ON PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: "Children's education and wellbeing remains a national priority. Moving further parts of London to remote education really is a last resort and a temporary solution.
"As infection rates rise across the country, and particularly in London, we must make this move to protect our country and the NHS. We will continue keep the list of local authorities under review, and reopen classrooms as soon as we possibly can."
It comes after the Mayor of London praised the decision to keep primary schools in London closed.
He tweeted: "The Government have finally seen sense and u-turned. All primary schools across London will be treated the same.
"This is the right decision – and I want to thank education minister Nick Gibb for our constructive conversations over the past two days."
- Joseph Gamp
LABOUR WARNS OF COVID 'CLIFF EDGE' IN 2021 AS FINANCIAL SUPPORT DEADLINES NEAR
Labour has warned that Britons are facing a Covid "cliff edge" as the deadlines for ending fiscal support and protection approach.
Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said the toxic cocktail of a lack of savings mixed with the economic downturn caused by coronavirus meant 2021 could spell "financial ruin" for many.
The Opposition party flagged that there are a host of looming deadlines – including the end of the eviction ban on January 11, mortgage holidays on the final day of January, and the extended furlough scheme on April 30 – which they said could spell disaster for British families.
The window for applying for Government-backed loan schemes is set to shut on March 31 and ministers plan to cut £20 per week from Universal Credit as of April 6, Labour said.
The party said its own analysis had shown the UK entered the pandemic with one of the lowest savings rates in the developed world, with data showing that UK households saved £3,055 less than the average across other economies in the G7 group of nations in 2019.
- Joseph Gamp
CHARLES WARNS CANCER RISKS BECOMING 'FORGOTTEN C' DURING PANDEMIC
The Prince of Wales has warned that cancer risks becoming "the Forgotten C" and that delayed operations during the pandemic are causing "despair".
In a piece for the Daily Telegraph, Charles, patron of Macmillan Cancer Support, writes that the charity has lost a third of its fundraised income.
He wrote: "In many cases, due to the pandemic, difficulties have become crises, a sense of isolation has become actual separation, and – as vital treatment or surgery has been postponed – anxiety has become despair.
"Macmillan has been adapting to this ever-evolving situation to ensure that cancer does not become 'the Forgotten C' during the pandemic."
Macmillan estimates up to 50,000 people could be living with undiagnosed cancer because of delays to NHS services.
- Joseph Gamp
CHART: UK COVID-19 CASES AND DEATHS PER DAY
- Joseph Gamp
ASTRAZENECA EXPECTS TO SUPPLY 2MILLION DOSES OF OXFORD VACCINE EVERY WEEK BY MID JAN – REPORT
Around two million doses of vaccine developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca are set to be supplied every week by the middle of January in the United Kingdom, The Times reported.
Citing an unnamed member of the Oxford/AstraZeneca team, the newspaper claimed there would be two million doses of vaccine ready in total next week.
The plan is to then build up fairly rapidly throughout the month.
- Joseph Gamp
WATCH: DOCTOR WARNS COVID ICU PATIENTS ARE 'COMPETING FOR VENTILATORS'
Doctor warns Covid intensive care patients are ‘competing for ventilators’
- Joseph Gamp
'LIFE AND DEATH' IN LONDON INTENSIVE CARE UNITS
Patients in Covid ICUs are in "competition" for ventilators amid a rise of cases in London, a doctor has warned.
It comes as figures show a continuing shortage of ICU beds across the country despite hundreds more having been made available to keep up with demand.
Despite restrictions remaining in place across much of the country, recent weeks have seen coronavirus cases continue to rise.
Read more here.
- Joseph Gamp
MATT HANCOCK DEFENDS DECISION TO KEEP LONDON PRIMARY SCHOOLS SHUT
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: "Over the past week we have seen infections and hospitalisations rise sharply across London and hospitals are coming under increased pressure.
"While our priority is to keep as many children as possible in school, we have to strike a balance between education and infection rates and pressures on the NHS.
"The situation in London continues to worsen and so today we are taking action to protect the public and reduce the spread of this disease in the community.
"Everyone across London must take this situation incredibly seriously and act responsibly to minimise the spread of this deadly disease."
- Joseph Gamp
ALL PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN TIER 4 LONDON TO STAY SHUT
All primary schools in London will stay closed as ten more boroughs are added in a government U-turn.
The move comes after it was announced that primary schools in 49 of the worst-hit Covid areas would be closed until at least January 18.
Read more on the story here.
- Joseph Gamp
COVID SPREAD 'ENTIRELY PREVENTABLE' BY FOLLOWING GUIDANCE, SAYS SENIOR MEDIC
People need to follow guidance on hand washing, social distancing and face coverings to stop the "entirely preventable" spread of coronavirus, a senior medic has warned.
Adrian Boyle, vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said staff are tired, feel helpless and at risk of burnout.
He told the PA news agency: "We are worried about staff burnout, staff are tired, they have worked really hard over the summer, they have put up with a lot of disruption.
"This time people are frustrated, this is now an entirely preventable disease, we know what we did in spring made a lot of this go away. There's also now a vaccine.
"The idea that we are dealing with something that can't be controlled doesn't wash, this is a preventable disease and we need to be preventing it."
- Joseph Gamp
WATCH: UK CONFIRMS 53,285 INFECTIONS AND 613 DEATHS
UK daily Covid cases rise 63 per cent in a week with 53,285 new infections and 613 deaths
- Joseph Gamp
MORE THAN 1 MILLION HAVE RECEIVED FIRST COVID VACCINATION, AS PLAN TO DELAY SECOND DOSES IS DEFENDED
More than a million people have now received their first coronavirus vaccination.
A joint statement from England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and his counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said the public will "understand" and "thank" them for a plan to give first jabs as a priority, delaying the follow-up vaccination for others.
The deployment of the newly-approved Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will begin on Monday, almost a month after the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, but second doses of either will now take place within 12 weeks rather than 21 days as initially planned.
Professor David Salisbury, a former director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said he backs the revised Covid-19 vaccine strategy.
The associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Of course I accept it is inconvenient and isn't helpful to have to change appointments and explain to people (about the delay in receiving a second jab), but the reason for doing this is to save lives.
"We know how many have been vaccinated, and across the whole country it isn't all that many, but every time we give a second dose right now, we are holding that back from someone who is likely, if they get coronavirus, to die, and much more likely to die than somebody who has already had a single dose."
- Joseph Gamp
IRELAND REPORTS 11 ADDITIONAL COVID DEATHS, 1,754 CASES
There have been 11 deaths related to Covid-19 in Ireland and an additional 1,754 cases reported in the past 24 hours.
As of 2pm on Friday, 504 Covid-19 patients are in hospital, of which 47 are in ICU. There have been 46 additional hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has warned that the health service will be unable to cope with the level of cases.
He said: "The most concerning trend at present is the rapidly increasing number of people being admitted to hospital – we are now admitting between 50-70 people a day to our hospital system.
"Unfortunately, we expect this to get worse before it gets better. Our health system will not continue to cope with this level of impact."
Source: Read Full Article