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There are now more coronavirus patients in Liverpool hospitals than during the first wave of the pandemic, a medical director in the city has said.
Dr Tristan Cope, medical director of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal, Aintree and Broadgreen hospitals, warned that cases were continuing to rise across the city.
“Sadly we are now treating more patients in hospital with Covid-19 LivHospitals than we did in April at the peak of the first wave and numbers continue to rise,” he said on Twitter.
"So important that people in #liverpool and LivCityRegion adhere to social distancing restrictions.”
He said that treating “so many” people with coronavirus alongside the usual acute and emergency care of non-Covid patients was placing a “huge strain” on the hospitals’ workforce.
“Thank you to all our staff for their incredible hard work and dedication in dealing with this very difficult situation,” he added.
"We can all help reduce that pressure by doing the right thing and taking some very simple measures: washing our hands frequently, keeping our distance from others from outside our household and wearing face coverings in indoor settings."
Earlier this month, Liverpool’s hospitals announced they would be scaling back non-urgent operations to help them cope with Covid-19 patients – despite the insistence of NHS bosses that normal care would continue during the second wave.
Steve Warburton, the chief executive of Liverpool University Hospitals NHS trust, acknowledged that doing less surgery would be “distressing” for patients affected but said the city’s three main acute hospitals had reached a “critical point”.
Dianne Brown, chief nurse of the hospitals trust, has meanwhile called for recognition of “the impact” the rising number of cases were having on hospital staff.
"Thank you to each and everyone of you, it is mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting – you are doing an amazing job,” she added on Twitter.
The first region to be placed under tier 3 restrictions, Liverpool currently has the third-highest rate of transmission in the country – although numbers appear to be falling.
In the seven days up until 17 October there were 2,970 recorded new cases – a rate of 596.3 cases per 100,000 people, down from 691.7.
Earlier this week, Dr Cope warned that Liverpool’s “hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed if current admission rates continue.”
He added: “[We are] not there yet, but [we are] dangerously close, at least in the Liverpool City Region and other parts of Merseyside and Cheshire."
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