Junior doctor tells LBC of desperate situation in hospitals as Covid cases surge

4 January 2021, 13:19 | Updated: 4 January 2021, 14:11

Junior doctor tells LBC of desperate situation in hospitals

Junior doctor Pushpo Hossain told LBC about the desperate situation hospitals face as Covid cases surge and begs people to stay inside.

On Sunday, the UK saw a record high of 57,725 cases in 24 hours, marking the sixth day that with new confirmed Covid cases were higher than 50,000.

Dr Hossain spoke to LBC's David Lammy after an exhausting weekend of 14 hour shifts in a Covid ward, where all patients are requiring oxygen and are "very very sick."

"Our hands are so full and we keep receiving more and more and the numbers just keep increasing," she said.

Dr Hossain told David that increasingly, there are patients being admitted are from all age groups - this weekend, she treated people in their twenties all the way to people in their nineties.

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"I've seen very sick people who take no regular medication as well as patients who have a blister pack full of medication," Dr Hossain said, "now there is no discrimination really."

David asked the doctor whether hospitals are in a more desperate situation than in March, following the discovery of the new coronavirus strain.

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Dr Hossain said, "I was there in the first wave as well and it feels better in the sense that now that we know what we're dealing with, we know what kind of treatment...is doing well and we have evidence because of that.

"It's far worse when it comes to the volume. We just have too many patients now, way too many, but I think I am more tired now than in March and April."

"We look at the news and the numbers every day and it makes us worried," she said, vowing herself and her colleagues will always try their best to serve the people that come through their doors.

"At this point we need the public to be on our side, we need everybody to be more responsible, to wear their masks," she continued, also urging people to wash their hands, practice social distancing and only go out if essential.

"As a doctor, I'm literally begging you to stay inside."

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