Hospital shut to new patients as crowds soak up holiday sun
A HOSPITAL in a seaside town has had to stop accepting new patients because of a surge in coronavirus cases.
The emergency shutdown in Westonsuper-Mare, Somerset, yesterday led to speculation that street parties on VE Day earlier this month may have caused a spike in infections.
It came as thousands took advantage of spectacular sunshine to flock to beaches around the country where the two-metre rule appeared virtually impossible to stick to in the crowds.
Temperatures reached 25C in London, although it was slightly cooler in the south-west of England. There were twomile queues on the A31 to Bournemouth yesterday as 10million ‘short leisure car journeys’ were made over the bank holiday weekend, said the RAC.
New admissions at Weston General Hospital were blocked from 8am ‘to maintain patient and staff safety’.
The measure was precautionary and would be kept under review, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust said. Patients would be able to receive care and treatment ‘in other appropriate healthcare settings in the area if they need it’, it added.
Dr William Oldfield, medical director at the trust, said: ‘As with any hospital, the number of patients with Covid-19 will frequently change as people are admitted and discharged. We currently have a high number of patients with Covid-19 in Weston General Hospital.
‘As an extra precaution we have taken the proactive step to temporarily stop accepting new patients to maintain patient and staff safety. This is a clinically led decision and we are being supported by our system partners to ensure that new patients receive the care and treatment they need in the appropriate setting, and we are continuing to provide high-quality care to existing patients.’
He added a ‘robust’ coronavirus testing programme is in place for patients and staff to identify cases quickly.
Writer Matthew Adams was among those to vent his anger on Twitter. He wrote: ‘ A little over two weeks since the VE Day celebrations, and my local hospital has today stopped admitting any new patients because of a surge in the number of Covid cases.’
Hermione Chase posted: ‘My local hospital. And judging from the number of govt sanctioned VE day street parties I cycled past a couple of weeks ago, I’m not surprised. Tiny, seaside hospital now unable to cope. Furious.’ Palliative care doctor and campaigner Rachel Clarke said: ‘Rising numbers of #COVID19 patients have just forced overwhelmed Weston A&E to close.
‘This is precisely why Cummings’ rule-breaking and @BorisJohnson’s endorsement of it are so utterly, inexcusably wrong.’
Meanwhile, two people died after separate incidents on the Cornish coast. Police were called to an upturned boat near Porthilly Rock, Wadebridge, at 2.25pm. Three people were taken to hospital and a teenage girl later died.
In the second incident, a man was pulled from the water at Treyarnon Bay, Padstow, at 2.30pm. He died at the scene, police said.