Critical care beds in Liverpool are now almost at capacity as coronavirus continues to spread through the city.
Liverpool is so far the only part of the country to be put into the highest level of coronavirus restrictions - Tier Three.
It means that from today as well as other restrictions pubs will be closed and household mixing is banned.
Councillor Paul Brant, cabinet member for adult health and social care at Liverpool City Council, said intensive care in the city was now at 90% capacity as hospitals looked to deal with the second wave of Covid-19 infections.
Mr Brant told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Our intensive, critical care beds are filling up very fast.
“The most recent figures I’ve seen suggest they are over 90% full and our acute hospital trusts have occupancy levels of Covid-positive patients of over 250.
“At the current rate of increase, we would expect Liverpool to surpass the peak of the first wave probably within the next seven to 10 days.”
Addressing the intensive care situation, he added: “They are not all Covid patients, I should say, but they are running very full and they are running with an increasing number of people who are Covid-positive.”
He added: “It has become clear that the intensity of the demand on hospital services here in Liverpool is crowding out anything other than dealing with Covid.”
