Hospitals throughout the UK are struggling to cope with a huge influx of patients, more even than in April. The governments have warned that the next two months will be critical.
With more than 21,000 coronavirus patients and serious staff shortages due to sickness, hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed.
Wales is so badly affected that the Cardiff and Vale health board recently called in medical students and other staff to help.
Just before Christmas all its intensive intensive care beds were taken and 10% of the staff were off sick. ‘We were under unprecedented pressure’, they said.
The Welsh NHS Confederation warned that the situation was ‘incredibly serious and worsening’.
In one day this week there were 40,000 new cases and 357 deaths in the UK.
Professor Andrew Hayward told the BBC the new coronavirus created ‘a very dangerous new phase. We are going to need decisive, early national action to prevent a catastrophe in January and February’.
The sombre news is countered by the steady increase in vaccinations - over half a million to date, 70% over eighty years old - and half a million tests were carried out in one day, still significantly short of the target.
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