UK Health Minister Matt Hancock has confirmed reports that the NHS government and administration are considering transferring patients from hospitals to hotels so that more beds are available for the seriously ill from COVID-19.
In a televised interview this morning, Mr Hancock said all possibilities would be considered to reduce the pressure on the NHS, which has had more than 35.000 coronary heart disease patients since the end of last week.
As he explained, the campaign hospital that has been set up during the first wave of the pandemic in east London has already started accepting patients, but the government is considering other options to be prepared.
He stressed that discharge from the hospital will be given only in clinically justified cases of patients who can be monitored outside the hospital.
The plan was revealed by the Guardian, citing an internal NHS document that said the increased need for capacity in public hospitals meant that some patients could be discharged early to hotels or their homes. They will be monitored either by NHS staff available, by trained volunteers, or by members of the armed forces.
The same document states that the NHS also asks nursing homes to accept Covid patients directly from hospitals even without a negative diagnostic test, as long as they have been in isolation for 14 days and have not shown any new symptoms.
Mr Hancock also said it was "impossible" to know how long the restrictions would last. "We will not keep them in force for a moment longer than they need to, but we will keep them in force for as long as they need to," he said.
He estimated that the government is "on target" to vaccinate the 14 million most vulnerable and exposed to the virus by February 15.
As of yesterday, 2.432.641 people in the United Kingdom had been vaccinated.
Moreover, according to an analysis of the rate of transmission of the virus, for the first time in weeks there is a tendency to reduce cases, especially in the areas that were first subject to more severe restrictions, such as Kent and London.
Yesterday's daily report of 45.533 cases was 25% lower compared to a week earlier. However, scientists point out that safe conclusions are still early.
In any case, they note that in the next period the pressure on the NHS will increase as cases of the previous weeks will be turned into hospitalizations.
