UK care in ‘medical disaster mode’, emergency hospitals back in use | Abroad

In the United Kingdom, at least 50,000 new corona infections were registered per day in the past four days. That number is partly due to the new virus variant, which is much more contagious. A total of about 73,000 people died, one of the highest death rates in Europe.

Healthcare personnel warn that it can hardly cope with the outbreak, especially now that many colleagues are also sick or in quarantine. There is a shortage of hospital beds, which has forced nurses to treat patients in ambulances. An email to Royal London Hospital staff stated that the hospital is operating in “medical disaster mode.”

A spokesman for the UK’s NHS health service says preparations are underway to reopen the Nightingale emergency hospital in London. There, healthcare personnel go to work, supported by the army and volunteers if necessary. The nurses’ union is wondering whether there is enough staff available to work in the hospital, the BBC reports.

Emergency hospitals were built in March and April with the help of the army. Thus, the pressure on hospitals was eased during the first wave.

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