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LONDON (AP) – England’s National Health Service is used to harsh winters – and looking after people in crowded wards sometimes means moving patients down the hall. But it is different. Now, some are lucky enough to get medical help while waiting in an ambulance in the parking lot.
The pressure on hospitals across the country forced the hand of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who plunged the country into its third national lockdown and ordered everyone to stay at home as much as possible for at least the next six weeks. The situation is getting worse, said Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at the King’s Fund think tank.
“It’s not hyperbole to say that the (National Health Service) is going through possibly the most difficult time in living memory,” he told The Associated Press. Anandaciva said some emergency rooms have a 12-hour wait.
“I was talking to a doctor in the London ER last week, and she said half of her shift was spent providing care in ambulances because they couldn’t get patients to the ER,” he said. he declared. “So you put it all together and paint a picture of the health service under incredible pressure.
Johnson has announced the new tough stay-at-home order for England which takes effect at midnight on Tuesday and won’t be reviewed until at least mid-February. Few in England expect relief before the traditional school break at the end of February.
“The coming weeks will be the toughest yet, but I really believe we are entering the final phase of the fight,” Johnson told the nation on Monday night. “Because with every blow that goes into our arms, we tip the scales against COVID and in favor of the British people.”
Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon also imposed a lockout which began on Tuesday. Northern Ireland and Wales had already imposed tough measures, although the rules vary.
Johnson and Sturgeon said the restrictions were necessary to protect the National Health Service, as a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus sweeps across Britain. On Monday, hospitals in England were treating 26,626 patients with COVID-19, 40% more than during the first peak in mid-April.
Many UK hospitals have already been forced to cancel elective surgeries and the pressure of the pandemic response could soon delay cancer surgery and limit intensive care services for patients without COVID-19. The intensive care units are full and overflowing.
Public health officials hope the new lockdown will reduce tensions on the NHS while rolling out a national vaccination program that targets the elderly, healthcare workers and those particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Britain has so far approved vaccines from two different manufacturers – one from Pfizer-BioNTech and the other from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.
The government hopes to give a first dose of the vaccine to all members of its four main priority groups, 13 million people, by mid-February, Johnson said.
Although the rollout is complicated, Anandaciva said the structure of the NHS would help him administer the vaccinations. Besides hospitals, doctors and nurses, it can rely on other related health professionals, such as pharmacists, to administer vaccines.
“This is an area where you can really maximize the benefits of having a nationalized service because you can… establish hubs, you can pool staff and you have a very strong brand to attract people,” a- he declared. “I think the NHS does a really good job of putting together the logistics of how you get the vaccine to the right places.”
In the meantime, grants are being given to help companies further constrained by the new rules. Grants of up to 9,000 pounds ($ 12,200) will be available to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure industries.
“The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge – and, while the vaccine is being rolled out, we have had to tighten the restrictions further,” said Treasury Chief Rishi Sunak. “Throughout the pandemic, we have taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods, and today we are announcing a further injection of funds to support businesses and jobs until spring.”
Johnson announced the lockdown after chief medical officers in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales raised the UK-wide COVID-19 threat assessment to the most high level. The health care system is already under “immense pressure”, they said.
The new measures are similar to those imposed last spring, with people being urged to work from home unless it is impossible to do so, and only to leave home to exercise or take trips essentials like groceries. Schools in England have been ordered to close, except for the children of critical workers and the most vulnerable children, and to switch to online education from Tuesday. University students will not be returning to campus until at least mid-February.
All non-essential stores and personal care services such as hairdressers will remain closed. Restaurants will be allowed to offer take-out services only.
New COVID-19 infections have exploded in recent weeks as public health officials struggled to contain the new variant, which the government says is 50% to 70% more contagious. The number of new daily confirmed infections in the past seven days jumped 50% from the previous week, and coronavirus-related deaths rose 21% in the same period.
Britain has recorded more than 50,000 new infections a day for a week and has reported 75,500 virus-related deaths overall, one of the highest figures in Europe.
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