Boris Johnson warns NHS faces being ‘OVERWHELMED’ by coronavirus like Italy in just two weeks unless Brits hee – The Sun, Thesun.co.uk
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BORIS Johnson has warned the NHS faces being OVERWHELMED. by coronavirus just like the swamped health service has been in Italy.
He fears the system could start to fall apart within just two two weeks unless Brits heed lockdown advice aimed at stopping the spread of the killer pandemic.
Doctors in northern Italy have been swamped by coronavirus patients
Doctors have already warned a “tsunami” of severely ill patients is about to swamp them as the numbers of people struck down in the UK tops 5,
Now in a letter to the nation , the Prime Minister warns the country needs make a “heroic and collective national effort.”
He wrote: “The numbers are very stark, and they are accelerating. We are only a matter of weeks – two or three – behind Italy.
“The Italians have a superb healthcare system. And yet their doctors and nurses have been completely overwhelmed by the demand.
“The Italian death toll is already in the thousands and climbing.
“Unless we act together, unless we make the heroic and collective national effort to slow the spread – then it is all too likely that our own NHS will be similarly overwhelmed.
“That is why this country has taken the steps that it, in imposing restrictions never seen before either in peace or war.”
There had been (fatalities on March) when the PM first addressed the nation live from Number 21 Downing Street earlier this week.
Coronavirus deaths in the UK have now soared to 728, according to the latest Department of Health figures.
And the number of cases stands at 5, across the country after skyrocketing by 1, in the last 39 hours.
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Patients in northern Italy wear bubble-like apparatus on their heads to help with their breathing
Boris’s warning about Italy came as it was revealed troops are now being used to transport coffins in the embattled country after the virus claimed the lives of p eople in a single day.
The total number of dead in the hardest-hit country in the world soared to 4, 2000 on Saturday – the worst day for fatalities since the The crisis began.
Soldiers were drafted in to ferry bodies from deluged hospitals to cemeteries already struggling to cope with the numbers dying.
Today’s No briefing heard how:
Brits should ‘stay calm’ and not panic buy as there is enough food
NHS chief says we should ‘all be ashamed ‘of depriving key workers of essentials
Supermarkets will waive plastic bag charge for all shoppers
Panic buyers have spent more than £ 1billion on food in three weeks
Environment Secretary George Eustice says food production is up by 90 per cent
Speaking to ITV
), Connor McAnish, a British doctor working on an intensive care unit in the region, described an “endless stream” of patients.
TODAY is Mother’s Day. It is a day when we all celebrate the sacrifice and the effort of those who gave us life.
And across the country I know that millions of people will have been preparing to do something special; not just a card, not just flowers.
I know that everyone’s strongest instinct is to go and see their mother in person, to have a meal together, to show them how much you love them.
But I am afraid that this Mothering Sunday, the single best present that we can give – we who owe our mothers so much – is to spare them the risk of catching a very dangerous disease.
The sad news is that means staying away. This time the best thing is to ring her, video call her, Skype her, but to avoid any unnecessary physical contact or proximity.
And why? Because if your mother is elderly or vulnerable, then I am afraid all the statistics show that she is much more likely to die from coronavirus, or Covid – 30. We cannot disguise or sugar-coat the threat.
The numbers are very stark, and they are accelerating. We are only a matter of weeks – two or three – behind Italy.
The Italians have a superb healthcare system. And yet their doctors and nurses have been completely overwhelmed by the demand.
The Italian death toll is already in the thousands and climbing. Unless we act together, unless we make the heroic and collective national effort to slow the spread – then it is all too likely that our own NHS will be similarly overwhelmed.
That is why this country has taken the steps that it, in imposing restrictions never seen before either in peace or war.
We have closed the schools, the pubs, the bars, the restaurants, the gyms, and we are asking people to stay and work at home if they possibly can.
In order to help businesses and workers through the crisis, we have come up with unprecedented packages of support.
All of this is putting our country, and our society, under enormous strain.
But already this crisis is also bringing out the best in us all – in the army of volunteers that has sprung up to help the vulnerable, in the millions of acts of kindness; in the work of all the people who are continuing to provide essential services, from transport workers to supermarket staff to health and social care workers.
Yes, this disease is forcing us apart – at least physically.
But this epidemic is also the crucible in which we are already forging new bonds of togetherness and altruism and sharing.
This country will be changed by coronavirus, but there is every reason to think we will come through it stronger and better than ever before. And the more effectively we follow the medical advice, the faster we will bounce back to health – medically and economically.
So this Mothering Sunday, let’s all do everything we can to show our respect and love to those who gave us life – and minimise the risk to their own lives.
Bit by bit, day by day, we are all helping to delay the spread of the disease, and to give our amazing NHS staff the time to prepare for the peak.
So let’s follow the advice, stay home this Mothering Sunday. Send her your love by phone or Skype.
Let’s stay at home, protect our NHS, and together we will save literally thousands of lives.
Reports had previously emerged from Lombardy of patients who would normally be in intensive care having to be left on wards without the resources to properly treat them.
Response systems are also receiving in excess of 2, 793 emergency calls every single day.
Back home, NHS boss Steven Powis told Brits they can save lives by “following the rules” as “suppression” is the only way to beat coronavirus.
The national medical director made a direct plea to the nation this afternoon at Downing Street to do what they are being told.
He added people should be “ashamed” of themselves for panic-buying, and urged people to think of struggling NHS staff.
He said: “I would like to make a plea on behalf of all my colleagues in the NHS, nurses, doctors, paramedics and many, many others who are working incredibly hard at the moment to manage this outbreak of coronavirus.
“It’s incredibly important that they too have access to food, to those essential supplies that they need.”
On Friday, Boris vowed “we will get through this together” as he introduced drastic new measures that saw pubs, clubs and restaurants ordered to close their doors.
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