Doctors from several hospitals in Northern Ireland were forced to treat patients in parking lots on Tuesday as the national health service was pushed to the brink.
Hospital capacity in the whole of Northern Ireland was 104%.
At one point outside the Antrim Area Hospital, 17 ambulances with patients were lined up outside the emergency department.
Wendy Magowan, operations director of the Northern Trust – a health and social care provider serving 470,000 people in the region – said a patient waited 10 hours in an ambulance in County Antrim.
43 people waited for an emergency bed at Antrim Area Hospital and 21 at Causeway Hospital on Tuesday morning, Magowan told British PA Media.
She added that 100 of the Antrim hospital’s 400 beds were already occupied by Covid-19 patients.
“The pressure has increased, we see our Covid numbers increasing here at Antrim hospital,” she told PA.
Every day we don’t see this second wave diminishing at all. “
The disturbing scenes took place as Prime Minister Arlene Foster sat down with other British political leaders about the British government’s plan to ease restrictions on the coronavirus over the Christmas holidays.
No decisions have been made to reverse the plans, but the government is facing growing criticism from health experts who have warned that New Year’s hospital admissions may match those of the pandemic peak in April unless tougher measures are taken.
On December 11, Northern Ireland emerged from a “circuit breaker” lockout – where schools remained open, but some retail, leisure and hospitality businesses had to close.
The lockdown has not lowered infection rates.
Northern Ireland’s Health Minister Robin Swann said he would propose a series of new restrictions to executive colleagues on Thursday.
In Northern Ireland, 486 new cases of the virus have been recorded in the past 24 hours, with the deaths of six more people announced Tuesday.
To date, 1,135 people have died from Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.