COVID-19 infections and associated deaths exceed serious milestones, amid an increased risk of British hospitalization.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK has now exceeded three million, as the human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rise amid growing fears of the rapid spread of new variants of the virus.
British authorities announced another 59,937 new infections and 1,035 associated deaths on Saturday, bringing the total death toll to 80,868 – one of the highest in Europe, along with Italy.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a third house arrest order earlier in the week as alarms deepened that hospitals could be overwhelmed, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan said a “major incident” on Friday. capital and said the spread of COVID-19 was “out of control”.
Reporting from London, Al Jazeera’s Neave Barker described the situation as “extremely bad”.
“Before the majority of the population receives the vaccine, there could be a significant impact on how hospitals are able to cope … [as well as] the number of deaths and the rate of infection, ”he said.
To date, more than 1.5 million people in the UK have received coronavirus outbreaks, with priority given to the elderly, their carers and health workers during the immunization process.
The government has launched a new public awareness campaign to make people more respectful of coronavirus restrictions, with Chief Professor Chris Whitty appearing in a video ad urging people to stay home as long as possible to protect the National Health Service (NHS). ) and saves lives.
Citizens are also encouraged not to be satisfied and to act as if they have the virus, or the people around them may have COVID-19.
Medical workers transfer a patient from an ambulance to Royal London Hospital [Simon Dawson/Reuters]
Last week, the government announced what is now the third national blockade, as it fights a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus that has swept across Britain.
The increase in infection threatens to overwhelm hospitals, putting more strain on doctors and nurses who are already tired after almost a year of pandemic.
“We hear about people being treated in ambulances and car parks outside the hospital because there is no space inside to bring people in,” said Dr Tom Dolphin, the hospital’s anesthetist and spokesman for the British Medical Association board. “It gets to the point where we strive to maintain basic standards in some hospitals.”
The number of COVID-19 patients treated at a London hospital rose by almost a third in the first week of January, and the number of patients with artificial ventilation rose by more than 40 percent, according to Khan.
Hundreds of firefighters came to the aid of the health service to drive ambulances.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, were among those vaccinated on Saturday. It is understood that the monarch decided that the information should be made public to prevent inaccuracies and speculation.
The UK is aiming to launch Pfizer / BioNTech and Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccines to stop the spread of the virus.
This week, the country’s regulators approved the Moderna vaccine – the third to be authorized for use.
The government aims to inoculate 15 million of the most vulnerable groups – including NHS front-line personnel – by mid-February and has deployed armed forces to help implement them.