NHS Nightingale “surge hubs” are being set up in hospitals across England as a leading GP warned Omicron is “spreading like wildfire”.
The eight temporary “Nightingale” units will each house about 100 patients, with building starting this week and there are plans for a further 4,000 beds if needed.
The chairman of the Royal College of GPs, east London-based Professor Martin Marshall, said growing numbers of staff being forced to self-isolate combined with the challenges of ramping up the vaccination programme has put practices under strain.
It comes as ministers are under pressure to ramp up coronavirus testing capacity after people across the UK found themselves unable to order PCR and lateral flow tests online.
Meanwhile, a further 189,213 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases were recorded in the UK as of 9am on Thursday, the Government said, another new record for daily reported cases. The total includes reported figures for Wales covering a two-day period.
The Government said a further 332 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Officials acknowledged that during periods of exceptional demand there could be “temporary pauses” in ordering or receiving tests, in an attempt to manage distribution across the system. The UK Health and Safety Agency said about 8 million test kits would be available in pharmacies by New Year’s Eve.
