10,000 people hospitalised with Covid since Christmas Day, NHS chief says

7 January 2021, 17:30 | Updated: 7 January 2021, 20:43

NHS dealing with 50% more hospitalised Covid cases than April peak

The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 has increased by 10,000 since Christmas Day, the NHS England chief executive has said.

Sir Simon Stevens said this was the equivalent of filling 20 acute hospitals, and added most of these people will have caught the infection between Christmas and New Year.

He told a Downing Street press conference there are now 50 per cent more inpatients in hospital than during the peak of the first wave.

He said the number of patients was "increasing very, very rapidly" in every part of the country, adding it is "vital" people take all the necessary steps to control the growth of infection.

READ MORE: NHS staff at London hospital speak of exhaustion in rare ward footage

READ MORE: Life-saving new Covid-19 treatments announced for NHS patients

NHS staff are "living with the tragic consequences of not having coronavirus under control", he said.

It came as official figures showed a further 1,162 people in the UK have died from Covid-19 - the highest daily death count since April - while a further 52,618 people have tested positive.

Boris Johnson told the press conference the Army will use "battle preparation techniques" to keep up the pace of the vaccine rollout across the UK, with hundreds of thousands of doses being administered every day by the middle of this month.

The Prime Minister said almost 1.5 million people have now been vaccinated and the Government intends to give everyone in care homes a jab by the end of January.

PM: The NHS and Army will work together to achieve vaccination targets

It comes as the vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University is rolled out across GP surgeries in England.

Mr Johnson told the briefing: "We've now vaccinated 1.26 million people in England, 113,000 in Scotland, 49,000 in Wales and 46,000 in Northern Ireland.

"So, all together, nearly 1.5 million people across the UK have now received their first dose and within two to three weeks all of them will have a very considerable degree of immunity."

He said that "if all goes well" then the NHS "should have the capacity to deliver hundreds of thousands of vaccines per day by January 15."

The Prime Minister admitted there would likely be "difficulties" in the rollout of the vaccine but added: "Let's be clear, this is a national challenge on a scale like nothing we've seen before and it will require an unprecedented national effort.

"Of course, there will be difficulties, appointments will be changed but... the Army is working hand in glove with the NHS and local councils to set up our vaccine network and using battle preparation techniques to help us keep up the pace."

Sir Simon praised the "strong start" the NHS had made to the vaccination programme but said there "was no room for complacency".

He said the plan for the next 39 days was to expand the supply of vaccines that can be administered, get more places doing the vaccinations and expand partnerships to "get the job done".

Brigadier Phil Prosser, Commander of Military Support to the Vaccine Delivery Programme, told the briefing his team was "embedded" with the NHS.

He said his "day job" is to deliver combat supplies to UK forces in time of war, adding: "My team are used to complexity and building supply chains at speed in the most arduous and challenging conditions."

Brigadier Prosser said the mission is to support the NHS in delivering the maximum amount of vaccine to minimise the number of infections and deaths as quickly and as safely as possible.

"The plan has many challenges which are difficult to balance. We need to make sure that every one of you has equal access to the vaccine no matter where you are in England," he said.

Listen & subscribe: Global Player | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify