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LONDON – UK hospitals are under unprecedented stress as a variant of the rapidly spreading coronavirus tears through the country, pressure mounting as doctors say they are saving more lives, meaning more hospital beds are being used.
The most contagious variant of the virus has led to a record number of hospitalizations and pushed the government-run National Health Service to its limits in parts of the country. As they manage the surge, doctors are looking to reduce the number of deaths in several ways, guided by the harsh lessons of spring.
They have established protocols so that elderly people with the virus are not sent from hospitals to nursing homes, where last spring such measures spread the virus that has killed thousands of people. They are using improved treatments for Covid-19 that are keeping more people alive.
In the meantime, they have continued with elective surgeries so that people with serious illnesses such as cancer receive procedures. It also means that more hospital beds are occupied.
The downside: hospitals are even fuller and under more pressure than last spring.
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