there are now more covert 19 patients in
the uk
hospitals than there were on the day of
lockdown in march
at one hospital on merseyside there are
currently 90 patients being treated
there were only seven a month ago our
health editor hugh pim has spent the day
at wiston hospital in noseley
shirley went through it all in march and
april with the surge in patients going
into intensive care
and now she feels it's happening again
this is really
real it really is it frightens me we all
have to look after ourselves to look
after our families
and to look after the words community
please take
part of what the government's guidelines
are
the hospital serving a merseyside
community with one of the highest
infection rates in the uk invited us in
today
to see just what it means for frontline
healthcare
bbc news is donating some personal
protective equipment to the hospital
there are now nine covered patients here
in intensive care
double the number a week ago a few weeks
before it was just one
that just shows how fast things are
escalating and the impact on the
hospital
we've had a really challenging weekend
haven't we so we know that we're coming
out the weekend with a very busy
organisation
at a gold command meeting the hospital's
senior management
are told there's been a jump in covid
patient numbers we've got
90 current positive inpatients we've had
13 new positive
patients in the last 24 hours for
frontline staff like nadine
there's concern at how fast events are
moving
and the likely pressures they'll bring
we put our feelings to the back of our
minds from the last wave and because it
was so stressful
and now that we've got this second wave
you know the anxiety has definitely come
back within the staff and within the
trust
you're feeling okay about surgery today
the hospital's pressing on with
non-covered care
melissa has come in for a routine
operation her joints are easily
dislocated because of her condition
it was postponed back in march now to
call me back and i am so relieved
even my carers are they're just so
relieved that it can finally get
done and hopefully get some comfort and
relief from it
we are ready to care and we will protect
you and keep you safe
the medical director says they're doing
what they can for all patients but it's
getting more difficult by the day
these last couple of weeks have felt at
least
as worrying as a medical leader as it
did in the first wave
and in many ways even more worrying
because i don't have
the room to maneuver within the hospital
that is already full
and full of really deserving patients
how close are you
to having to cancel routine surgery and
procedures
because of covered cases we are really
close right now i've got every operating
theatre running
but we risk having to take some of that
down
back in intensive care grace who has
covered 19 is ready to move out
she wants to warn others about the
reality of the virus
be fearful of it make sure that you do
the
right guidelines keep keeping yourself
safe
a message which all nhs staff want the
public to grasp
as they face the bleak consequences of
rising virus infections
hugh pim bbc news at whiston hospital on
merseyside
well the latest official figures show 13
972
new infections were recorded in the
latest 24-hour period
it means the average number of new cases
reported per day in the past week is
14 588. hospital admissions have also
increased on average
615 people were being admitted every day
over the past week
this number doesn't include scotland 50
deaths have been reported that's people
who died within 28 days of a positive
covid19 test that figure is usually
lower after the weekend
it means on average in the past week 72
deaths were announced
every day it takes the total number of
deaths so far across the uk
to 42 800 and seventy five
well there were warnings today that as
the number of new infections continues
to increase
the virus is moving further into
southern england and also spreading from
the younger generations to older more
vulnerable people
our medical editor fergus walsh reports
the nightingale hospitals in manchester
sunderland and harrogate
set up for the first wave of coronavirus
are now being mobilized for the second
there are more patients in hospital with
covid19
than when the national lockdown happened
in march
and government medical advisors warn
numbers will rise
we have baked in additional hospital
admissions
and sadly we also have baked in
additional deaths
that are now consequent upon infections
that have already happened
they've been almost no hospital
admissions among the
under 18s the flat line there now
there's been
some increase among those aged 18 to 64.
but now look
at those aged 65 to 84 a sharp rise in
hospital admissions
and even more striking among those aged
85 plus
reinforcing the evidence that it is the
elderly who are most at risk from
coronavirus
even though most cases are among younger
age groups
many who were never admitted to hospital
have lingering health problems like
fatigue
so-called long-covered and then there
are all the usual demands on the health
service
much non-urgent care was postponed when
the virus first hit
the hope this winter is that won't
happen
contact your gp if you're worried about
cancer symptoms an unusual lump for
example or
blood in your urine use the emergency
service if you have chest pain
or another acute condition we are
determined
to keep that capacity for non-covered
services
open for as long as possible but
the key to this is reducing infection
rates
so much depends on whether the rise in
coronavirus infections can be
curbed this map shows the rate of change
of coronavirus in england the areas
with the sharpest rise in rates are
shown in red and you can see they're not
just
in the north of england the epidemic is
also
growing further south especially in
parts of london
and the home counties even though case
numbers
are still much higher in the north nhs
leaders warned that within four weeks
some hospitals in northern england could
be treating more covid patients
than they were in april and they're
urging the public
to respect the rules on coronavirus
fergus bbc news