LONDON – The UK’s National Health Service is gearing up for the worst weeks of the pandemic as a new, more contagious form of the coronavirus sweeps across the country, putting hospitals under more extreme stress than it did in spring.
A combination of a more contagious version of the virus, less adherence to social distance restrictions, and changing hospital procedures have created a storm for the state health service trying to weather a wave of Covid-19 infections.
‘I think this situation is really very serious. It is deteriorating rapidly, ”said Dr. Daniele Bryden, MD, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine. “We know this is going to be a very difficult three weeks.”
The new variant – which scientists estimate to be between 50% and 70% more transmissible than older versions – has been combined with gatherings over Christmas to push new reported cases to record levels on a daily basis, government scientists say. New cases seem to be leveling off at high levels, but it will take time for the benefits to kick in in hospitals.
There are now more people in the hospital than at any stage of the pandemic last April, with 32,300 Covid-19 patients currently hospitalized, compared to about 21,700 in the spring.