Monday, 25 Nov 2024

Coronavirus map LIVE: ‘We’re heading into abyss’ NHS doctor breaks cover with dire warning

Dr Jess Potter, an NHS respiratory specialist at an intensive care unit in London, is currently self-isolating for up to 14 days after she displayed common coronavirus symptoms but could not be tested, as Government advice orders only the most serious cases of the deadly bug can be looked into further. The doctor was asked to see a patient who had been infected with coronavirus and soon developed a new and persistent cough – one of the main symptoms associated with the deadly bug. She warned “right now if feels like we are heading into the abyss”.

After just one patient with Covid-19, a quarter of our junior staff are off with coughs and sniffles we would normally work through. A single case of the coronavirus has wreaked havoc in our hospital

Dr Jess Potter

Dr Potter told DNYUZ: “After just one patient with Covid-19, a quarter of our junior staff are off with coughs and sniffles we would normally work through.

“A single case of the coronavirus has wreaked havoc in our hospital.

“It’s a microcosm of what may come. Britain has fewer intensive-care beds than most other European countries. Occupancy rates are high, and there’s a daily struggle to discharge enough people to make space for new patients.

“Even when a bed is available, we do not have the nurses to staff it. A decade of cuts and underfunding has left us dangerously exposed. This is the perpetual winter of the NHS.”

There are fears the already-under pressure NHS will buckle under the strain of the coronavirus outbreak if it continues to accelerate, exposing staff to the deadly symptoms.

Nearly one million people have so far signed a petition calling for frontline NHS staff to be tested for coronavirus as a matter of priority.

On Wednesday, Public Health England announced the number of new coronavirus cases had surged by 676 to 2,626 in just 24-hours, with the death toll increasing by nearly half (33) to a total of 104.

Boris Johnson announced most schools would close from Friday, and remain shut “until further notice”, throwing childrens’ education and upcoming GCSE and A-level exams into chaos.

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