New field hospitals as Scottish cases soar
A RAPID rise in the number of Scots infected by coronavirus saw health chiefs accelerate plans for field hospitals last night.
Figures released yesterday show there have been 894 confirmed cases in Scotland, up 175 from the previous day.
But the Chief Medical Officer said as many as 50,000 Scots could be infected.
Dr Catherine Calderwood revealed the estimated figures as the number of deaths in Scotland rose to 25.
Field hospitals could be used to treat patients without Covid-19 to free up hospital wards for those with the disease.
The First Minister confirmed ministers were considering siting a field hospital at the SEC Centre in Glasgow.
Detailed discussions have taken place with the Armed Forces about setting up sites in Scotland.
The ExCel Centre in London is being converted into a facility able to treat up to 4,000 people.
Dr Calderwood said: ‘What we are talking about is increasing NHS hospital capacity.
‘We have been in early discussions with our colleagues in the Armed Forces across the UK and we are looking at what we want and need in Scotland, and where those sites would be. One possibility is having temporary hospitals to increase that capacity.’
With Scotland in lockdown since Tuesday, Dr Calderwood said it had been very encouraging to see empty streets and empty shops, but the fight against the disease is ‘going to be a long haul’.
The Chief Medical Officer added: ‘I would just encourage people as the weekend comes – a weekend perhaps unlike any other you have experienced – to not be tempted to see families from other households. The virus is out there. You do not know who has it.’
There were 57 coronavirus patients being treated in intensive care units across Scotland yesterbe day, up six from Wednesday. Scotland’s NHS is on track to quadruple intensive care capacity to more than 700 beds.
The postponement of elective surgery has also meant health bosses have freed up almost 3,000 acute hospital beds.
In addition, patients are being temporarily treated in hospices to increase the number of available acute care beds.
NHS Lanarkshire, for example, is using St Andrew’s and Kilbryde Hospices for hospital patients.
Dr Calderwood said that supplies of personal protective equipment for frontline medical staff should improve this week.
She added: ‘I’m hearing from my colleagues in the NHS, they really are worried, and this makes me very uncomfortable to send people to work on the front line when they are worried that the masks in particular will run low or run out.’
Dr Calderwood said there was a ‘global shortage of protective equipment’, in part because factories in China where most of the items are made have been shut down for weeks.
But she said new supplies had been released to health and care workers this week, with the NHS also taking steps to improve the distribution of vital items.
Dr Calderwood added that large orders for items such as masks had ‘clogged up the system’ but the distribution process has been changed. ‘Distribution should not
‘Going to be a long haul’
a problem in Scotland after this week,’ she said.
It was also announced that 1. face masks are to be made available to health staff in Scotland after independent testing showed them to be safe to use despite being past
‘Global shortage of equipment’
their expiry dates. The masks expired in June and August 2019.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘One question we have continually been asked is about equipment for health and care staff.
‘I want to emphasise to NHS workers and to those working
in the wider care sector that I know how important this is.
‘We are announcing today that we have brought an extra 1.5million face masks back into use from the NHS Scotland central stockpile.
‘The protective masks were stockpiled because they were past their expiry date but they have now undergone extensive testing which has shown them to be fit for use.’
Last night, Miss Sturgeon confirmed that the Scottish Government is looking at possibly turning the SEC in Glasgow into a field hospital.
Speaking on STV’s Scotland Tonight programme, the First Minister said: ‘We are working within our existing hospitals to increase our general bed capacity, not just intensive care, by around 3,000 beds.
‘In addition to that we are exploring the option of an additional temporary hospital.
‘We have been exploring the option of the exhibition centre in Glasgow.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We want to maximise our NHS capacity as much as possible and as part of that, as Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood said this morning, we are in discussions about the possible need for any potential locations of additional emergency provision.’