Britain reactivated emergency hospitals built at the start of the pandemic and closed primary schools in London on Friday (local time) to stem the rapid spread of a much more infectious variant of the new coronavirus.
With more than 50,000 new daily cases of Covid-19 in the past four days, the health service said it was preparing for an early patient rush and needed more beds.
The announcement came just days after the Royal London Hospital told the team via email that it was now in “disaster medicine mode” and unable to provide high-quality intensive care.
With the capital being one of the areas hardest hit by the new variant, which is believed to be up to 70% more infectious, the government has also decided to close all primary schools in London, reversing a decision made just two days ago.
“Education and child welfare remain a national priority,” said Secretary of Education Gavin Williamson. “Moving other parts of London to distance learning is really a last resort and a temporary solution.”
Laura Duffell, a matron at King’s College Hospital in London, said the new strain of Covid is affecting children and young adults without underlying health problems in increasingly worrying numbers.
Talking about BBC Radio, she described “entire children’s wards” suffering from Covid.
“It’s very different. This is what makes it all the more scary for us as doctors, nurses and porters and everyone else who is working on the front lines.
“We have children who are arriving. It affected the kids minimally in the first wave … now we have an entire children’s ward here and I know that some of my colleagues are in the same position, where they have an entire children’s ward with Covid. “
Some members of the British medical community contested Duffell’s claims.
“At the moment, we are not seeing significant pressure from COVID-19 in pediatrics across the UK. As cases in the community increase, there will be a small increase in the number of children we see with COVID-19, ”said the UK’s Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health in a statement in response to the radio interview.
“The vast majority of children and young people have no symptoms or only have a very mild disease. The new variant seems to affect all ages. “
Britain is battling a new wave of a virus that has already killed more than 74,000 people and crushed the economy.
One of the hardest hit countries in the world, it registered 53,285 cases in the last 24 hours of Friday, and 613 new deaths.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government was criticized for frequent reversals during the pandemic, including delaying the blockade during the first wave in March and abandoning a system of grading without exams.
Temporary ‘Nightingale’ hospitals in places like convention centers were a success, built by the military in a matter of days. They were hardly used, but remained in standby mode.
A Sky News report said the intensive care units at three London hospitals were full on New Year’s Eve, forcing patients to be transferred to other hospitals for intensive care.
“Anticipating growing pressures with the spread of the new variant of the infection, the NHS London Region has been asked to ensure that Nightingale is reactivated and ready to admit patients if necessary,” said a spokeswoman for the National Health Service (NHS) ).
The Royal College of Nursing has warned, however, that the country does not have enough nurses to serve the new locations, especially with many patients with the virus or forced to isolate themselves.
Regarding schooling, the government said it had to close all primary schools in the capital after a review of transmission rates. On Wednesday (local time), Williamson outlined a plan to delay the reopening of secondary schools, but to open most primary schools, including much of the capital, in the next week after the Christmas holiday.
The opposition Labor Party said the last-minute reversal would cause chaos for parents.
with Reuters
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