LONDON/LISBON, Jan 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Britain reported a record number of deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday with 1,610 people dying within 28 days of positive coronavirus test, exceeding the previous peak set last week.
The number was steeply up from the 599 deaths reported in Monday’s official figures. There is often a lag in reporting new deaths after the weekend.
There were 33,355 new cases recorded, down from the 37,535 reported on Monday.
England and Scotland announced new national lockdowns on Jan 4 in a bid to stem a surge in cases after the discovery of a more transmissible UK variant of the coronavirus late last year.
The lockdown has seen new cases come down from a seven-day average peak of around 60,000 new daily cases on Jan 7, though health officials have warned that the numbers of deaths will rise even as reported cases start to come down.
“Whilst there are some early signs that show our sacrifices are working, we must continue to strictly abide by the measures in place,” said Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at Public Health England.
“By reducing our contacts and staying at home we will see a fall in the number of infections over time.”
Government figures showed that 4,266,577 people had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The UK is hoping to vaccinate 15 million high-risk people by the middle of February.
Meanwhile, PORTUGAL is living “one of the saddest moments”, the prime minister said, as doctors warned of a healthcare system nearing collapse and the daily death toll from COVID-19 reached a new record high.
The country of 10 million people recorded 218 new COVID-19 fatalities, up from 167 on Monday and pushing the total death toll since the start of the pandemic to 9,246, health authority DGS said.
“We are certainly living one of the saddest moments, of greatest pain and suffering,” Prime Minister Antonio Costa told parliament. “It is a very tough marathon.”
Portugal, which last week announced a new lockdown to curb the surge in infections and help relieve pressure on struggling hospitals, also reported on Tuesday 10,455 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 566,958.
“If (the number of infections) continues at this rate it will be very difficult to get to the end of the week without (the health system) collapsing,” said Joao Gouveia, head of the association representing Portuguese intensive care workers.
Of 672 intensive care unit (ICU) beds allocated to COVID-19 patients in public hospitals, 670 are now occupied, while the country only has in total just over 1,000 such beds for all patients, regardless of illness, health authorities said.
“In hospitals the situation is absolutely dramatic,” said Ricardo Mexia, president of the National Association of Public Health Doctors. “Public health units don’t have the capacity to cope with the volume of new infections we are seeing every day.”
Mexia said there were various reasons why the number of cases and deaths were increasing, including the government’s decision to ease measures over the Christmas period to allow people to see loved ones.
The doctors’ Union SMZC said in a statement: “Several hospitals were unable to provide oxygen with adequate pressure to patients, a problem that is likely to worsen in coming days.”
In the city of Portalegre, a hospital launched an inquiry on Tuesday into the death of an elderly man after he waited three hours inside an ambulance because the COVID-19 unit was full. — NNN-AGENCIES
