Threatened With A Shortage Of Beds For COVID-19 Patients, The UK Prepares Field Hospitals

Illustration. (James Yarema / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Britain is said to be reactivating a field hospital in London due to COVID-19. This is because London will run out of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in the next two weeks.

The UK Health Minister Matt Hancock agreed to this Thursday, January 7. If the number of COVID-19 patients increases to its lowest level, London hospitals will be short of nearly 2,000 beds by January 19.

Mat Hancock said he was concerned about the increasing burden on the National Health Service (NHS). According to him, the British government has added health workers to several states due to the increase in the number of COVID-19 patients.

“For example in London, (we) make sure that Nightingale hospital is on standby and there, if necessary. And if it is needed, of course it will be used (field hospital), "he said referring to the establishment of a field hospital in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is known that Britain officially announced a national lockdown on Tuesday, January 5. Schools and universities are closed, restaurants and shops have limited operating hours, non-essential shops are closed, sports activities are restricted, due to a surge in infections due to a new variant of the corona virus.

On Wednesday 6 January, the daily death toll from COVID-19 across the UK surpassed 1,000 for the first time since April 2020. Meanwhile, the total number of deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began surpassed 77,300, the highest in Europe.