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Hospitals in southern England have seen a “real rise in pressure” as the number of coronavirus patients receiving treatment nears April’s peak.
Infection rates in England are currently highest in areas of Essex, London and other parts of the south-east.
Brentwood, Essex has the highest rate in England, with 1,111 new cases recorded in the seven days to December 23, the equivalent of 1,442.5 cases per 100,000 people.
According to the government’s Covid dashboard, 21,286 people were hospitalized with coronavirus on December 22. This is slightly less than the 21,683 recorded on April 12.
Meanwhile, the London ambulance service said Boxing Day was ‘one of the busiest ever’ for paramedics, triggered by the rise in Covid-19 infections and the wider impact of the pandemic on health.
Saffron Cordery, deputy managing director of NHS Providers, said: “We are seeing a real increase in the pressure for hospital services, but also for other types of NHS services… ambulance trusts in particular are under pressure extreme, as is the community. and mental health services ”.
Specifically in London and the south, Ms Cordery added: ‘Part of the problem is that many more people come through the door with Covid, but also people who come through the door with other conditions.
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The 7,918 calls received by London Ambulance Service (LAS) on December 26 are up by more than 2,500 from the 5,217 received the same day last year, and doctors are receiving support from other ambulance services around the world. South.
LAS said in a statement: ‘Like NHS organizations across the country, the demand for our services has increased sharply in recent weeks and we are now taking up to 8,000,999 calls per day, up from 5 500 on a typical “busy” day.
“Our colleagues in the emergency services are also under pressure to receive our patients as quickly as possible.
“We are urgently working with NHS partners to reduce delays.”
A review that will decide whether more areas will be moved to the more difficult Level 4 is expected on December 30, as the new, highly infectious variant of the coronavirus spreads across the UK and the world.
More than six million people in the east and south-east of England suffered the highest level of restrictions on Saturday, which now affects 24 million people, or 43% of the population.
Cases of variant infection have been identified in more than a dozen countries, the latest reported in Norway, Madeira and Jordan.
Lockdowns are also in place in the other three home countries, after mainland Scotland entered Level 4 restrictions from Saturday for three weeks, and a similar stay-at-home order is also in place in Wales.
Northern Ireland has also entered a new six-week lockdown, and week one measures are the most difficult yet, with a form of curfew in effect from 8 p.m. with stores closed to from this time and all indoor and outdoor gatherings prohibited until 6 a.m.
Downing Street figures are due to meet with Education Department officials on Monday to discuss whether schools should remain open in case tougher measures are needed, it is understood.
Amid reports that the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine may soon receive regulatory approval, people are urged not to socialize over the New Years in an attempt to “curb the spread” of the virus.
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Ms Cordery, who heads the group representing the NHS trusts in England, said people “should not be under any illusions that this is one of the toughest times for the NHS”.
“It is vital that everyone takes heed of the new rules and restrictions as the New Year approaches and beyond.”
About 10,000 volunteers were recruited to help distribute the Oxford jab when it was cleared by regulators, the Telegraph reports, with hopes of a mass deployment from January 4.
The government said 316 more people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, bringing the UK total to 70,752.
At 9 a.m. as of Sunday, there had been 30,501 other laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK.
But death and case figures are likely to be higher as Scotland does not publish data on deaths between December 24-28 and Northern Ireland does not provide cases or deaths on the same period.
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