COVID-19 infections and related deaths go through dark milestones amid the growing risk that British hospitals will be overburdened.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases recorded in the UK has now exceeded three million, as the human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rise amid growing fears about the rapid spread of new variants of the virus.
British officials on Saturday announced another 59,937 new infections and 1,035 related deaths, bringing the total death toll to 80,868 – one of the highest in Europe, alongside Italy.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a third order to stay at home earlier in the week, as the alarm that hospitals could be overloaded increases, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Friday declared a “major incident” in the capital and said the spread of COVID -19 was “out of control”.
Reporting from London, Neave Barker of Al Jazeera described the situation as “extremely bad”.
“Before the majority of the population receives the vaccine, there can be a significant impact on how hospitals are able to deal with … [as well as] the death toll and the infection rate, ”he said.
To date, more than 1.5 million people in the UK have received a coronavirus vaccine, giving priority to the elderly, their caregivers and health professionals during the immunization campaign.
The government launched a new public awareness campaign to make people better comply with coronavirus restrictions, with medical director Professor Chris Whitty appearing in a video ad asking people to stay at home as long as possible, protect the National Health Service (NHS) and Save lives.
Citizens are also encouraged not to be complacent 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 at Royal London Hospital [Simon Dawson/Reuters]
Last week, the government announced what is now the third national blockade as it fights against a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus that has spread across Britain.
The rise in infection threatens to overwhelm hospitals, putting more pressure on doctors and nurses who are already tired after almost a year of the pandemic.
“We are hearing about people being treated in ambulances and parking outside the hospital because there is no space to bring people in,” said Dr. Tom Dolphin, anesthetist at the hospital and a spokesman for the British Medical Association council. “We are getting to the point where we are struggling to maintain basic standards in some hospitals.”
The number of COVID-19 patients treated at the London hospital increased by almost a third in the first week of January, and the number of artificially ventilated patients increased by more than 40 percent, according to Khan.
Hundreds of firefighters came to the health service to conduct ambulances.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and her husband, Prince Philip, were among those to be vaccinated on Saturday. It is understood that the monarch decided that the information should be made public to avoid inaccuracies and speculation.
The United Kingdom is betting on the launch of the Pfizer / BioNTech and Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccines to stop the spread of the virus.
The country’s regulators also approved this week the vaccine from the American company Moderna – the third to be authorized for use.
The government aims to have inoculated 15 million of the most vulnerable groups – including NHS frontline personnel – by mid-February, and has mobilized armed forces to assist with deployment.