January 21 Patrick Valance, the chief scientific adviser of the British government, said on the 20th that the medical system is under great pressure to treat a large number of patients, and some hospitals are “like war zones” at present.
The United Kingdom reported 1,610 new coronavirus deaths on the 19th, a new number of new cases in a single day.
The pressure is huge.
The UK government only counts the cases “deaths within 28 days after testing positive for COVID-19”.
According to this statistical standard, the United Kingdom reported 1,610 new coronavirus deaths on the 19th, exceeding 1,564 on the 13th, setting a new record for the highest number of new deaths in a single day since the outbreak in the country.
According to the statistics of the British government, as of the 19th, the cumulative number of coronavirus deaths in the United Kingdom was 91,470, ranking fifth in the world and the highest in Europe after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.
Vallance told Sky News that admissions soared, the health care system was under great pressure, and some hospital staff were “busy as if they were fighting.” When you walk in the park, you may not feel strange, but when you walk into a hospital, the situation there is particularly bad and stressful.
In some hospitals, people are too busy, and [hospitals] look like war zones.
At present, there are 37,946 people hospitalized in the UK due to COVID-19, of which 3,916 are on ventilators.
According to Reuters, about 4.27 million people in the UK have been vaccinated against the first dose of the novel coronavirus.
Learn lessons
Some people in the UK believe that the early response of the Boris Johnson government to the coronavirus epidemic is reflected in slow response, insufficient protective equipment for medical personnel in time, and the flawed COVID-19 testing system.
Some doctors and the families of patients have asked for public questions about the government’s response to the epidemic.
In an interview with London Broadcasting Corporation on the 20th, British Home Secretary Priti Patel replied that when asked why the number of deaths are so high, she said that it is caused by multiple factors, “but now is not the time to discuss the government’s fault”, and the government will reassess the epidemic prevention process and review which parts in due course in the future.
It could be better at that time.
Patel said that now is an important juncture in the prevention and control of the epidemic.
The government has to make various decisions quickly every day and is learning from mistakes.
“We’ve done it right sometimes, and we’ve done it wrong, and we’ve learned a lot from our past experiences,” Varance told Sky News.
Referring to specific lessons, Valance concluded that the lesson about the implementation of restrictive measures is that action should be taken “earlier, stricter and broader”.
He said that lifting restrictions such as the “lockdown” prematurely is also wrong.” Every time the restrictions are lifted too soon, the epidemic data will “have a wave of growth, which is the case worldwide”.
