A 28-year-old struggling to breath and a young headteacher with cancer are two of the people in hospital in the North West with Covid-19.
In the past month the number of Covid-19 hospital admissions in the region has soared.
The North West NHS region is treating 1,100 Covid-19 patients, of which 221 are in intensive care or specialist infectious disease units.
Across the country there are now more coronavirus patients receiving hospital care - 3,451 on October 11 - than there were on March 23, when the first lockdown was triggered.
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Video from the inside of Warrington Hospital's intensive care unit quickly dispels one of the coronavirus myths - that young people seldom fall seriously ill with the disease.
In the footage a 28-year-old man can be seen struggling to breath.
His chest rises and falls in a laboured, exaggerated way and his face is contorted in pain.
The woman in the bed opposite his is the head teacher of a local school who, despite being a few years older, appears in a better state.
Further investigation reveals she is a cancer patient who is now also battling Covid-19.
Dad-of-two Mark Hammersley is only 57, but is firmly in the "at risk" category because he is overweight and has diabetes, he explains.
He shielded for the duration of the first wave but has since fallen ill after moving house.
Now Mark has a ventilator strapped to his face and he is struggling to breath.
Another person who has been following the coronavirus guidelines is Susan Bostock, whose breathing is also being assisted.
"I've done everything that I've been told, social distancing and the rest of it, but I don't think people should take it lightly," Susan told Sky News.
"I know how far I can breathe at the minute. And I know I can't survive without this."
Fortunately Susan has full faith that Warrington's doctors and nurses are providing her with the best care and medication.
It is very likely that these services will either be overburdened in the coming months or extra capacity will have to be found.
As of this week Warrington Hospital's intensive care only has two free beds left.
Yesterday morning the Government announced that three Nightingale Hospitals in the North were being prepared to take patients again.
They should be ready for operation in the next few weeks.
In the meantime daily coronavirus cases and deaths are rising rapidly across most of the country.
At Warrington Hospital alone, where there were no Covid-19 deaths between July and August this year, there were eight in the past week.
