(London) “On a war footing” in the face of the surge of Omicron cases, British hospitals are working to open thousands of temporary beds, without yet knowing what the scale of the wave will be in intensive care units.
The United Kingdom, which already deplores nearly 148,500 deaths from the pandemic, records daily COVID-19 contamination records (more than 189,000 in 24 hours Thursday).
Even if the authorities stress for the moment that the Omicron variant seems to cause forms less severe than the Delta, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 approached 12,000 Thursday, for the first time since the beginning of March.
To be prepared for the “worst scenario”, the national health service, the NHS, announced Thursday the construction of temporary structures to accommodate each a hundred patients in eight English hospitals, supposed to be operational as of this week.
Hospitals were also asked to identify “spaces such as gymnasiums or education centers that can be converted to accommodate patients” with a view to creating up to 4,000 beds.
At Saint George’s Hospital in the district of Tooting, south London, workers were busy setting up a metal structure in front of the brick building on Thursday, an AFP photographer found.
“The NHS is now on a war footing,” assured the medical director of the health service, Stephen Powis, while saying “hope” that these structures are not used.
“We do not yet know exactly how many people who have contracted the virus will need hospital treatment, but given the number of infections, we cannot wait to know to act,” he explained.
During the first wave, the NHS had set up huge field hospitals in conference centers or stadiums but these structures had been little used, in particular due to the lack of specialized staff.
This time, he chooses smaller structures in the immediate vicinity of hospitals.
“Easier” than losing weight
Unlike authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Boris Johnson’s government has decided not to impose further restrictions until New Years Eve in England.
REUTERS ARCHIVE PHOTO
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Leaving pubs and nightclubs open and simply calling for caution during the holidays, he accelerated the vaccine booster campaign, a third dose having been administered to more than 58% of those over 12 years old.
In a New Year’s speech broadcast by his services, the Conservative leader said he had achieved the official goal of offering a booster dose to all adults by the end of December.
Stressing that the current situation was “incomparably better than last year” thanks to vaccination, he once again encouraged the population to be vaccinated: a resolution “much easier to keep than losing weight or keeping a journal” , according to him.
Faced with the opposition of part of his majority to a turn of the sanitary screw, Boris Johnson relies in particular on studies indicating a lower risk of hospitalizations with Omicron than with the Delta variant.
Part of the admissions measured in the recent increase is also explained by the number of patients who arrived for reasons other than COVID-19 but tested positive. These cases are multiplying given the huge number of infected.
Immunologist John Bell, of the University of Oxford, put the threat to the BBC into perspective, stressing the benefits of vaccination: “The horrific scenes from a year ago – intensive care units full, many premature deaths – are now a thing of the past ”.
But scientists fear a major wave in hospitals despite everything due to the large number of contaminations. And the situation has deteriorated in recent days, especially in London, even if we are far from the peaks of last winter (nearly 40,000 patients in hospital).
Beyond the situation of hospitals, the spectacular level of circulation of the virus disrupts the functioning of the country.
Southern Rail Transport Company has canceled all its trains at London Victoria Station until January 10. Firefighters and ambulances evoke difficulties in providing their services.
As well as the NHS itself, which raises doubts about how open temporary beds work.