Coronavirus live news: Cyprus lockdown begins; Vietnam limits flights for lunar new year
Lockdown comes after explosion in cases across Cyprus; China records 69 new cases; Vietnam will only allow necessary flights to enter country
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Ambulance services in the UK are under “unprecedented pressure” with handover delays at a scale never seen before, a leading paramedic has said.
Tracy Nicholls, chief executive of the College of Paramedics, said some ambulance crews have reported waiting up to nine hours to transfer a patient to hospital staff in areas where there is increased pressure on NHS services.
It (the ambulance service) is under unprecedented pressure. We are very used to seeing ambulance services take some strain over the winter months due to the normal pressures we would see any particular year. But this year particularly has seen incredible pressure because of the clinical presentation of the patients our members are seeing. They are sicker.
We are seeing the ambulance handover delays at a scale we haven’t seen before. Our members have reported to us they can wait as little as half an hour. We’ve had some members wait five, six, seven, eight and even nine hours. But I would say the hidden risk – your viewers can see the ambulances at the hospitals – that doesn’t take into account the huge number of patients that are waiting for an ambulance that can’t get to them.
Belgium’s death toll from coronavirus infections, one of the highest per capita in the world, has breached the 20,000 mark, according to official data.
The country, home to the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, has played down comparisons that show it to be one of the world’s worst hit by the pandemic, but virologists point to some missteps and systemic problems.
Read the original article at The Guardian