Hospitals are under more pressure from Covid-19 than they have ever been, the Prime Minister warned as he ordered a new national lockdown across England.
Boris Johnson said that hospitals are 40 percent busier than the first peak of the virus in April 2020 - while a record 80,000 people tested positive on December 29.
There are now a record 26,626 virus patients in England’s hospitals, up from 12,987 on December 4. It comes as some doctors compared working in the NHS to being in a "warzone", with strict care standards having to be dropped.
The usual ratio of one nurse per patient relaxed so they are caring for up to three patients, according to the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Danny Mortimer.