Hospitals in Liverpool are now seeing more coronavirus patients than in the first peak in April, a hospital trust medical director has said.

Dr Tristan Cope, the medical director at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal, Aintree and Broadgreen hospitals, said a “huge strain” had been placed on staff – and added that numbers were still rising.

He wrote on Twitter: “Sadly we are now treating more patients in hospital with COVID-19 @LivHospitals than we did in April at the peak of the first wave and numbers continue to rise.

“So important that people in #liverpool and @LivCityRegion adhere to social distancing restrictions.

“Treating so many Covid patients in addition to usual acute and emergency care of patients with non-Covid conditions puts a huge strain on @LivHospitals staff.

“Thank you to all our staff for their incredible hard work and dedication in dealing with this very difficult situation.

“We can all help reduce that pressure by doing the right thing and taking some very simple measures: washing our hands frequently, keeping our distance from others from outside our household and wearing face coverings in indoor settings.”

Liverpool currently has the third highest rate of transmission in the country, and was the first area to come under Tier 3 restrictions.

Such measures are the tightest imposed by the government’s three-tiered approach, and has resulted in the closure of bars and pubs not serving food.

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According to the latest figures on infections, there were 2,970 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the Liverpool area during the seven days leading up to 17 October.

This, therefore, marks a rate of 596.3 cases per 100,000 people, and is down from 691.7.

Dianne Brown, the chief nurse at the hospitals trust, called for recognition of “the impact” the surging numbers of COVID-19 cases in hospitals were having on staff.

She added on Twitter: “Thank you to each and everyone of you, it is mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting – you are doing an amazing job.”

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