Ex-NHS staff nurse 'terrified' and 'sad' as Covid cases rise
20 October 2021, 18:35 | Updated: 20 October 2021, 18:38
'It's like horrific déjà vu', ex-NHS staff nurse tells LBC
Former NHS Staff Nurse Jemma James tells LBC she is "terrified and sad" as Covid cases rise.
It comes amid growing concerns over the spread of coronavirus in the UK, with another 49,139 cases and 179 deaths reported on Wednesday.
Cabinet minister Kwasi Kwarteng earlier "categorically" ruled out another lockdown, telling LBC: "I don’t know where this language has come from."
Ms James was a Staff Nurse in the North East of England and left her job due to the burnout she experienced from working during the pandemic.
Shelagh asked: "How does it feel to you, given those experiences, to hear the government being dragged kicking and screaming to some return of measures?"
"It's like horrific déjà vu," Ms James replied.
"I mean we've all been here before, we've listened to this go round and round and round. And I saw the result of that, I lived through the result of that, and the idea of having to do that again is horrendous.
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"I mean I'm not even angry, I'm just terrified and sad."
Shelagh remarked: "I feel disbelief at it really."
"I just think seriously, have you experienced the same year and a half as the rest of us or not? It is baffling."
Today the Government announced deals for two new antiviral drugs to help treat the most vulnerable coronavirus patients this winter.
The treatments are expected to help thousands at most at risk, including the elderly and those with weakened immune systems, who have tested positive for or been exposed to Covid-19.
Antivirals are used to either treat people infected with a virus or to protect exposed individuals from becoming infected.
