The British health service NHS will set up temporary shelters in hospitals to receive corona patients. The extra spaces may be necessary due to the high number of infections due to the omikron variant.
According to NHS medical chief Stephen Powis, the agency is currently “at war” with the virus.
The eight temporary shelters, each with a capacity of 100 patients, will be set up in hospitals in England, Sky News reports. They are named after the nurse Florence Nightingale. And if necessary, more locations such as gyms have already been designated to accommodate patients.
If necessary, the eight locations will accommodate hospital patients who have not yet recovered sufficiently from Covid to go home but who otherwise require little attention from nurses. Currently, in some cases, hospitals are already using hotels and care homes to care for non-Covid patients there.
“We don’t know exactly how many of those who contract the virus will need hospital treatment,” Powis said. “But given the number of infections, we can’t wait any longer, so work is underway from today to ensure these facilities are in place.” .”
Health Minister Sajid Javid says he hopes the spaces will ultimately not be needed. During the pandemic, the British health service also deployed field hospitals to receive corona patients.