Amid rising coronavirus cases, the United Kingdom has decided to reactivate the emergency hospitals established at the onset of the pandemic. The government has also decided to close primary schools amid a rise in a new version of the virus.
A day after entering the new year, the UK situation remains as bleak as the pandemic year. Considering the grave situation, the government led by Boris Johnson has decided to relocate the emergency hospitals to stay prepared for the expected outbreak of cases in the next few days.
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The announcement comes just days after the Royal Infirmary London informed its staff, via email, that the hospital was now entering the “accident treatment procedure”, making it impossible to to provide high quality emergency care.
It has also been announced that all primary schools in the London capital will return to online tuition, and will discontinue all offline classes, amid fears that the infection rate of the new variant of coronavirus – which has been proven to be 70 percent more contagious.
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“Children’s education and wellbeing remains a national priority,” said Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. “Moving more parts of London to remote education is a last resort and a temporary solution.”
The decision has come back as a shock when a meeting was announced about schools reopening a few days ago.
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This news has been justified by the government by releasing the official number of diseases and deaths caused by the new strain of coronavirus, which is more than 74,000 in total. On Friday, the UK registered 53,285 new coronavirus cases and 613 deaths.
“In anticipation of pressures arising from the spread of the new variable disease, the London NHS Department was asked to ensure that the Nightingale was reactivated and ready to admit patients if required,” a spokeswoman said. National Health Service (NHS).
Hospital authorities have also warned the government about a shortage of nurses in the hospitals, especially COVID wards.