Why ‘twindemic’ is making Britain set up ‘war rooms’ for winters
Covid In Britain: Rapid response teams to help people at their homes will also be set up across the country.
Britain is setting-up data driven “war rooms” as it prepares for what is being called the country's “toughest winter on record”, a report said. For the winter, the UK government is making 24/7 "care traffic control centres" in every local area with teams of experts that will manage demand and capacity of beds available and people admitted in hospitals across England, Sky News reported.
Additionally, rapid response teams to help people at their homes will also be set up across the country which aims to reduce at least 55,000 ambulance trips that can be used to treat other patients.
The health services’ top bosses have said that the “coming weeks and months will be difficult”.
"We continue to be in a Level 3 incident, and services are under continued, significant pressure, with challenges including timely discharge of patients impacting on patient flow within hospitals, alongside ongoing pressures in mental health services," a letter by the heads stated.
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The early preparation by the government comes at a time when Britain’s health service is expecting a “very challenging winter” with respiratory infections like flu and pneumonia to increase along with Covid which is already on the rise in the country.
The UK government said that it is “preparing earlier and more extensively than ever before.” Covid cases in England had been falling since July but the proportion of people testing positive started to rise again in the first few days of September. Two new Covid sub-variants are also under investigation in the UK- BA 2.75 and BA 4.6- while BA.5 remains the most common variant in the country.
