Nightingale hospitals in northern England on standby as Covid cases rise

Three Nightingale hospitals in Manchester, Sunderland and Harrogate, have been told to prepare to take large numbers of people with Covid-19, as the steep rise in infections results inexorably in more hospital cases and more deaths, NHS England’s medical director has said.

In a grim briefing warning that deaths and hospitalisations are rising in line with soaring infections in England, Stephen Powis also said NHS staff in high-risk areas would be tested regularly, even if they do not have symptoms.

Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy medical director, warned that more deaths were already “baked in” because of the current infection rate. Powis added that there was no way to separate off the vulnerable from everyone else.

“The claim that without taking further action, the elderly can somehow just be fenced off from risk, I’m afraid, is provided proven to be wishful thinking,” he said.

“Liverpool University hospital has the highest number of Covid-19 patients, with currently more than 250 patients with Covid in its beds. And in the last four weeks, hospitals in the north-west and the north-east have witnessed a seven-fold increase in Covid patients in the intensive care units and infections continue to rise in just four more weeks. They could be treating more patients than they were during the peak of the first wave.”

Van-Tam said he would not anticipate any later political announcement on restrictions on social gatherings in pubs and elsewhere, but warned of the dangers.

“Unfortunately the virus thrives on what we like most, which is human contact,” said Van-Tam. He cited the Japanese authorities, saying they talked of the dangers being “three Cs” – closed spaces, crowded places and close contact. But factors such as how close people were and the level of noise also made a difference, he said.

“We have increasingly strong evidence about shouting and singing as pressure points on the virus, in terms of making the expulsion of virus laden particles go further and the transmission therefore to become more intense,” he said.