Extra £3bn to get NHS ready for winter

Anna Mikhailova

BORIS JOHNSON will announce an additional £3billion in funding to keep Nightingale hospitals open until next March amid fears of a resurgence of Covid-19 this winter.

The Prime Minister will today set out the funding boost to make the health service “battle ready” for the winter. The announcement will come amid warnings of a further 120,000 deaths in hospitals if the virus rebounds later this year.

Downing Street said the extra money would allow hospitals to boost capacity in the health service while also allowing routine treatments and procedures to continue. Mr Johnson is also expected to commit to a new testing target, to boost capacity to 500,000 coronavirus tests a day by November.

The Prime Minister will make the announcements at a Downing Street press conference today. He is also expected to unveil the latest government guidance to free up the economy further.

Mr Johnson is expected to publish the next steps in his Covid-19 recovery strategy “road map”.

The extra NHS funding will allow for Nightingale hospitals to be maintained until the end of March 2021, and for private hospital capacity to continue to be used. The £3 billion funding will be available immediately, No10 said.

A report commissioned by Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, has warned there could be 120,000 hospital deaths in a “reasonable worst-case scenario”.

There are concerns a second wave of the virus during the annual flu season could cripple services. A Downing

Street spokesman said: “Thanks to the hard work and sacrifices of the British people, the virus is under control and we have eased restrictions in a cautious, phased way.

“But the Prime Minister is clear that now is not the time for complacency, and we must make sure our NHS is battle ready for winter.”

The 500,000 testing target is also seen as key to avoiding another national lockdown. It would enable all 360,000 of the people expected to have flu-like symptoms each day during the winter cold and flu season to be tested, and would also allow blanket testing following local outbreaks.

Mr Johnson’s “road map” is expected to encourage more people to go back to work and to use public transport, but could stop short of changing the official guidance that says people should work from home if they can.