UK hits daily virus record; gov't urged to keep schools closed

This results in beds and staff being deployed differently from in previous years in both emergency and elective settings within the hospital. As a result caution should be exercised in comparing overall occupancy rates between this year and previous years. In general hospitals will experience capacity pressures at lower overall occupancy rates than would previously have been the case."

Dalai Lama - Oh you mean those "Nightingale" hospitals put up to relieve the enormous stress? The ones that are all but deserted? Those ones?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9072773/Britains-deserted-Nightingale-hospitals-Facilities-built-relieve-strain-empty.html

nah.

Why would someone post such mischievous misinformation?

I imagine those kind of people are lonely and the only acknowledgment they can get is trying to incite arguments online. Sad.

 the Brits would've noticed but all summer long they partied like nothing was wrong

Some idiots did. But many, many good people followed lockdown and later measures.

Yet UK hospital bed occupancy is actually lower than last year at this time.

This is a blatant distortion of the facts.

Why would someone post such mischievous misinformation?

You might think when Bozo got CoVid and survived, the Brits would've noticed but all summer long they partied like nothing was wrong. And Bozo didn't stir up strife on purpose like his US counterpart so what's the deal here?

@bob -You might want to check in with NHS's real data.

Quote "Note for 2020-21 data

Hospital capacity has had to be organised in new ways as a result of the pandemic to treat Covid and non-Covid patients separately and safely in meeting the enhanced Infection Prevention Control measures. This results in beds and staff being deployed differently from in previous years in both emergency and elective settings within the hospital. As a result caution should be exercised in comparing overall occupancy rates between this year and previous years. In general hospitals will experience capacity pressures at lower overall occupancy rates than would previously have been the case."

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/

@Luddite - You might want to check in with your NHS's own data

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9043583/NHS-data-suggests-hospitals-England-December.html

Hi Luddite

Guardian headlines past:

Dec, 2012 "Hospitals 'Full to Busting' as bed shortage hits danger Level"

Nov, 2013 "Hospitals Scramble to Prevent Crisis in NHS's 'Toughest Ever Winter'"

Nov 2014 "More patients, overstretched doctors - Is the NHS facing a winter crisis?"

March, 2015 "Hospital bed occupancy rates hit record high risking care"

December 2016 "Hospitals in England told to put operations on hold to free up beds"

December 2017 "NHS bosses sound alarm over hospitals already running at 99% capacity"

March 2018 "NHS Intensive Care Units sending patients elsewhere due to lack of beds"

November 2019 "Hospital beds at record low in England as NHS struggles with demand"

starting to see a pattern, Luddite? I am...

@bob. Disingenuous cherry picking on your part. There are 10,000 less beds available than this time last year, and also less staff. Elective surgery has been cancelled, so those patients are at home when they should be in hospital. There are far more patients in ICU than there were last year. But you keep cherry picking

Yet UK hospital bed occupancy is actually lower than last year at this time.

Panic porn for the win!

The new strain is already in Japan. I agree we should be vaccinating, but this is not an easy decision: whoever makes the call will bear a huge responsibility for any side effects of these relatively untested vaccines.

Millions of people being vaccinated-that is good news.

If the new strain occurs in Japan then there will be a massive need to vaccinate sooner than March.