London hospitals face ‘tsunami’ of patients
LONDON: London hospitals are overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, the head of an organisation representing bosses in the state-run National Health Service said on Thursday.
The chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson, told BBC radio that hospitals in the British capital have seen an “explosion of demand... in seriously ill patients,” likening it to a “continuous tsunami,” with numbers predicted to surge in the next fortnight.
“They talk about wave after wave after wave,” he said. “The word that’s often used to me is a sort of continuous tsunami.”
According to the latest figures, 463 people have died from the virus and more than 9,500 people have been infected. London’s population is about one-third of Britain’s total.
However, the official statistics are thought to represent only a fraction of the actual number of infections across Britain.
The government is to open a temporary 4,000-bed hospital at an exhibition centre in London next week to treat COVID-19 patients.
British media reported that 10 similar facilities could be set up around the country.
London has found itself at the epicentre of the country’s epidemic as controversy rages over the adequacy of protective measures.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who last week recommended social distancing, on Monday ordered a national lockdown, telling people to stay at home and asking all non-essential shops and services to shut down.
But he has allowed people who cannot work from home to keep working, notably in the construction industry, resulting in some crowded London Underground trains.
The government has urged the capital’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, to run more services so that passengers can maintain social distancing guidelines.
But Khan has said the Underground is running a limited service because of staff illnesses and shortages, urging only essential frontline workers to use the transport. He has also called on government ministers to halt construction work.
Meanwhile, former boxing world champion Amir Khan has become the latest sportsman to help in the fight against the coronavirus, offering his wedding venue for use by Britain’s National Health Service.
Khan is ready to hand over the keys to the 60,000-square-feet venue in his home town of Bolton as concerns grow over bed shortages.