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HEALTH-VIRUS-BRITAIN-HOSPITALS
Covid surge leaves UK hospitals like ‘war zones’: chief scientist
LONDON, Jan 20, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Some British hospitals resemble a “war
zone” due to the influx of coronavirus patients in the country’s latest wave
of the disease, the government’s chief scientific adviser said on Wednesday.
Britain is gripped by a new strain of the virus, heaping fresh pressure on
overstretched health services, and overwrought medical staff.
A record 1,610 deaths were recorded on Tuesday, although overall case
numbers have started to fall.
“When you go into a hospital, this is very, very bad at the moment with
enormous pressure and in some cases it looks like a war zone in terms of the
things that people are having to deal with,” chief scientist Patrick Vallance
told Sky News.
The government is banking on an unprecedented vaccination drive to try to
return life to normality.
More than four million people have received a jab since the programme began
in early December.
But Vallance warned that “vaccines are not going to do the heavy lifting
for us at the moment”, and efforts to cut the close-contact spread of the
virus are needed for some time to come.
“This is about, I’m afraid, the restrictive measures which we’re all living
under and carrying on with those,” he added.
“The numbers are nowhere near where they need to be at the moment, they
need to come down quite a lot further — we need to make sure we stick with
it.”
Britain is currently locked down for the third time since the start of the
outbreak early last year. Schools and non-essential shops are closed, social
mixing and travel are restricted.
A review of the measures is due in mid-February, with hopes that stay-at-
home orders can begin to be lifted.
But Vallance said the easing of restrictions should not be done quickly,
echoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week, who said it would not be an
“Open Sesame” moment.
“This is going to be a slow release, monitoring carefully, understanding
the effects,” Vallance added.
Britain’s total Covid-19 death tally now stands at 91,470, with a further
33,355 new cases also reported over Tuesday, taking the total number of
infections to nearly 3.5 million.
BSS/AFP/IJ/2005 hrs