Shocking footage from an intensive care unit has revealed the extent of the coronavirus crisis and the strain it is piling on the NHS.
Emotional doctors and nurses were seen struggling at London’s University College Hospital while caring for the growing amount of coronavirus patients.
Operating theatres and some paediatric rooms have even been converted into intensive care units to deal with the ever-growing number of patients.
The harrowing footage comes on the same day Britain breached 1,000 Covid-related deaths since the virus’s peak in April.
Emotional doctors and nurses were seen struggling at London’s University College Hospital while caring for the growing amount of coronavirus patients
Department of Health figures revealed that a whopping 1,041 people have died as a result of coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
Footage filmed by the BBC showed the alarming reality on hospital wards.
One patient, Attila, 67, opened up about the trauma of suffering from the virus.
He said: ‘It knocked me out. I didn’t think I would make it. There is no oxygen around. It’s very frightening.’
A doctor went on to explain that if the hospital is forced to keep increasing its capacity at this rate it will only be able to last another week before it cannot provide intensive health care to all patients.
One patient, Attila, 67, opened up about the trauma of suffering from the virus. He said: ‘It knocked me out. I didn’t think I would make it. There is no oxygen around. It’s very frightening’
One nurse, Ashleigh, revealed that they are being forced to prioritise their care which will inevitably lead to a lower standard of care
Numerous hospital workers are needed to care for just one coronavirus patient that is on a ventilator.
Nine members of staff are needed to flip ventilator patients twice a day in order to help improve their airflow.
And hospital workers are not only bearing the physical brunt of the coronavirus crisis.
Many have been left emotionally drained by the appalling things they have seen.
One nurse said: ‘My emotions are all over the place. I’m scared, sad and worried.’
Another nurse, Ashleigh, revealed that they are being forced to prioritise their care which will inevitably lead to a lower standard of care.
The harrowing footage comes on the same day Britain breached 1,000 Covid-related deaths since the virus’s peak in April
The BBC’s medical editor, Fergus Walsh, said: ‘The staff are sell shocked. I saw staff in there in tears.’
He also revealed that there are currently 30,000 Covid patients in hospitals across the country – 9,000 more than at the virus’s peak in April.
And although the average age of a coronavirus patient in intensive care is 60, Mr Walsh revealed that there were patients in their 20s who are being treated in ICU at University College Hospital.
He added that doctors are eager to let the public know that urgent care is still available and if you are worried about ‘lumps and bumps’ or suffer a heart attack or stroke you should still be going to hospital so more lives are not lost unnecessarily.
Operating theatres and some paediatric rooms have even been converted into intensive care units to deal with the ever-growing number of patients.
Three pregnant women are currently in intensive care units at the hospital, one of whom, Rachel, is just five weeks from her due date.
A doctor, Alice, held back tears as she described how she sent her young children to stay with their grandparents during the first lockdown.
She detailed how upset her children are at the prospect of having to be sent away again.
And she added that she is most worried about the emotional strain that nurses are being put under during these unprecedented times.
Experts fear the country’s death toll will continue to spiral as the soaring cases over the past three weeks translates to more deaths as people get sicker.
Experts fear the country’s death toll will continue to spiral as the soaring cases over the past three weeks translates to more deaths as people get sicker
Statistics also show it is the third day in a row that Britain has posted a record-high number of cases, following on from the 60,916 announced yesterday and the 58,784 the day before.
The figure is also 24.6 per cent up on last Wednesday’s count of 50,023.
The shocking data underlines the seriousness of the situation the UK finds itself in and come after Boris Johnson desperately tried to win over furious Tory MPs as he defended his new national coronavirus lockdown and insisted he had ‘no choice’ but to impose tough new draconian curbs.
No10 is now desperately trying to speed up its mass vaccination programme, which is considered the only way to escape the never-ending cycle of lockdowns.
The Prime Minister pledged to vaccinate the most at-risk 13million Britons by mid-February with the ambition of easing restrictions — but today he conceded there would not be a ‘big bang’ release from the current national lockdown.