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British hospitals across the country face a dangerous situation in January, medical workers in the United Kingdom warned on Friday amid a surge in coronavirus infections attributed to a new variant of the virus.
Authorities lobbied to reactivate previously suspended field hospitals just to handle the rush of new patients.
Matt Dunham / AP
The London Eye is one of the traditional sites for New Year’s Eve fireworks, but it has been canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and restrictions in place to try to stop its spread.
Concerns are growing about the ability of the National Health Service, which has already spread, to cope with the anticipated increase in people seeking treatment for Covid-19 infections in the coming weeks, which could be further boosted by the festive gatherings during Christmas and New Years.
On Friday, the UK recorded another 53,285 new infections, slightly down from the previous day’s record of 55,892.
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Although comparisons to the onset of the pandemic are difficult because testing was limited in the spring, the UK posted its four highest daily numbers of new infections over the past four days, all above 50,000 and around double from the daily number from a few weeks ago. .
The head of England’s Royal College of Nursing, Mike Adams, said Sky News that the UK was in the “eye of the storm” and that it was “infuriating” to see people not following social distancing guidelines or wearing masks.
A prominent doctor also warned of burnout among healthcare workers on the front lines of hospitals, while urging people to follow the rules.
“I am concerned,” said Adrian Boyle, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, BBC. “We are very much in the battle stations.”
The increase in new cases is said to be due to a new and more contagious variant of the virus that was first identified in London and south-east England.
Given the time lag between new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from Covid-19, there is great concern about the trajectory of the pandemic over the next several months.
Britain already has the second highest number of virus deaths in Europe at 74,125 after another 613 deaths were recorded on Friday. It seems that the country is going to overtake Italy and once again become the most affected country in Europe.
As a result of the spike in new infections, which has prompted even tighter lockdown restrictions, UK authorities have changed their strategy to roll out coronavirus vaccines, choosing more people to receive an initial shot as soon as possible and delaying the second shot. up. to three months.
In a joint statement, the medical directors of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said the first dose of the vaccine offers “substantial” protection.
Jonathan Brady / AP
A quiet Wardour Street in London, as the New Year’s Eve fireworks show has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, on Thursday, December 31, 2020.
Currently, two vaccines have been approved for use in the UK and both require two doses per person.
About 1 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine developed by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German biotechnology company BioNTech, and a small minority also received the second dose as planned after 21 days.
Earlier this week, Britain also approved a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca that is substantially cheaper and easier to use.
The authorities then outlined the new dosing regimen, which delays a person’s second injection three weeks after it is given to 12 weeks after the first.
“In the short term, the further increase in vaccine efficacy from the second dose is likely to be modest. The vast majority of initial protection against clinical disease is after the first dose of vaccine, “medical officials said.
Still, the new plan has faced some criticism. The UK’s leading doctors union has warned that delaying the second dose causes huge scheduling problems for thousands of partially vaccinated elderly and vulnerable people.
“It is manifestly and grossly unfair for tens of thousands of our highest risk patients to now attempt to reschedule their appointments,” said Richard Vautrey of the British Medical Association.
