London: As the city of London ratchets up its efforts to treat the coronavirus pandemic that is fast gripping England, the country’s capital is facing a severe crisis. London is the most affected city as of now and it is expected to run out of Intensive Care Unit beds for critically ill COVID-19 victims.
Hospital personnel and staff are faced with tough decisions whether to build new wards due to space shortage or simply addressing the increasing number of patients admitted for treatment.
A Dailymail story quotes a nurse saying that “Staff are already allowing weaker patients to die in a bid to save others from the coronavirus outbreak.”
Citing the troubles of the Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, doctors told the Daily Telegraph that they are giving more care to those who have greater chances to survive. Most of their elderly patients have succumbed to the virus.
Plus, the nurse quoted above also mentions the shortage of staff not only to attend to patients, but also those who operate machines.
The Dailymail also cites research that predicts all of England will follow suit with the dearth of ICU beds in two weeks’ time. The outbreak in England’s capital is worse than that of Lombardy, Italy.
The United Kingdom has thus far seen 8,077 cases and 422 dead. Globally almost half a million people have been infected with 18,000 lives lost.