Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Hospitals are fuller than their April peak
HOSPITALS in Merseyside are treating more Covid-19 patients than at the pandemic’s peak.
And as the North West’s Nightingale Hospital prepares to open for the first time since June, “exhausted” medics have pleaded with the public to follow social-distancing guidelines.
Dr Tristan Cope, medical director of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust, tweeted that staff are under a “huge strain”, adding: “We can all help reduce that pressure by doing the right thing and taking very simple measures: washing our hands frequently, keeping our distance from others outside our household and wearing face coverings in indoor settings.”
The Trust, which runs the Royal Aintree and Broadgreen hospitals, has 398 patients with Covid-19, compared to 390 on April 12.
Last week the region became the first area of the country to go into Tier 3 restrictions.
Liverpool has the third highest infection rate in the country, although numbers are dropping.
In the seven days up until October 17 there were 2,970 recorded new cases, a rate of 596 cases per 100,000 people, down from 691.
At Whiston Hospital in nearby Knowsley, ward manager Nadine Mcstein said: “Staff are exhausted, they’re tired, they’re run down.”
But she fears the virus was now “unrelatable” for the public, adding: “I don’t think they appreciate the extent of what the NHS is going through and it’s disheartening to see people going against the rules.” The 1,000-bed Nightingale Hospital in Manchester is expected to reopen next week.