British hospitals scramble for space as virus cases surge

“When the numbers approach their peak from April, the system will be stretched to the limit again,” he said.

British officials have blamed a new variant of the coronavirus for the surge in infection rates in London and southeast England. They say the new version is easier to infect than the original version, but emphasizes that there is no evidence that it makes people sick.

In response, authorities have restricted England’s Swath, which is home to 24 million people, closed unnecessary stores, banned indoor socializing, and allowed restaurants and pubs to operate solely for takeaway. doing.

Nevertheless, COVID-19 hospitalizations in southeast England are approaching or exceeding the levels seen at the first peak of outbreaks. According to government statistics, 21,286 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus throughout the UK on December 22, the last day of data availability. This is just below the highest of 21,683 COVID-19 patients recorded at a UK hospital on April 12.

Dr. Katherine Henderson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, described her experience working in a hospital on Christmas Day as a “wall-wide COVID.”

“Opportunities are what we do, but we do at a cost,” Henderson told the BBC. “The cost is not doing what we wanted. It means that we can continue non-COVID activities.”

The UK has already recorded more than 70,000 deaths among the people of the coronavirus, one of the highest victims in Europe.

Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said more parts of England may need to be placed in the most stringent regulatory stages if the number of cases does not decrease. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also implementing strong blockades.

Nonetheless, expectations are rising that UK regulators may approve a second coronavirus vaccine this week, raising confidence that support may be available soon.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is likely to give a green light to vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, according to UK media reports.

Regulators approved a jab made by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German company BioNTech on December 2, making the UK the first country to have a rigorously tested vaccine available. More than 600,000 people in the UK receive the first of the two vaccinations required for the vaccine.

If the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is approved this week, the general public will be able to start vaccination from January 4th. The UK has ordered 100 million shots compared to 40 million shots of Pfizer-BioNTech Shots.

The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is considered a potential game changer in global vaccination efforts because it is cheaper than Pfizer Shot, does not need to be stored at freezer temperature, and is easy to distribute. ..

However, it had fewer clear results from clinical trials than its major rivals. Partial results suggest that Shot is approximately 70% more effective in preventing diseases caused by coronavirus infection, compared to the 95% efficacy reported with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

However, the study produced two different results based on the dosing regimen used. The researchers said the vaccine was protected from the disease in 62% of patients who received the full dose twice, and 90% of the patients who received the full dose after the half dose. However, the second group contained only 2,741 people. Too few to decide.

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, told The Sunday Times that he was confident that the vaccine would be effective against new strains and as effective as its rivals.

“I think we understand the winning formula and how to get the effect of being with everyone else after two doses,” Soriot said.

Follow the Associated Press at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Copyright 2020 AP communication. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.