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Stark warning to North East Lincolnshire on preventing ‘tragic scenes’

Stark warning to North East Lincolnshire on preventing 'tragic scenes'

Stark warning to North East Lincolnshire on preventing ‘tragic scenes’

The area’s top health chiefs have issued a stark warning to North East Lincolnshire residents over the area’s soaring Covid infection rate.

“If the brakes are not put on the virus very soon, there will be little easing of restrictions when the current national lockdown ends on December 2,” they announced.

If the area is placed in Tier Three, this will not be much different in the extent and impact of restrictions to the current lockdown.

Director of Public Health for North East Lincolnshire Stephen Pintus said some members of the public had not caught up with the worsening situation and were still behaving in a way that was enabling the virus to infect others.

“We can turn the situation around and prevent the tragic scenes that broke our hearts in the spring; to avoid months of life under strict restrictions. However, it will take a determined effort from every one of us,” said Dr Ekta Elston, Medical Director for NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG.

Dr Kate Wood, Medical Director of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Every year in the NHS we brace ourselves for winter, but we are not into winter yet and we already have long waits in our A&Es with patients waiting for beds to become available.

“You may have heard that last weekend we declared a major incident at our trust; this virus is very much here and present in our local communities and we are feeling the impact.”

The warning, which also comes from Dr Peter Melton, Clinical Chief Officer for NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG, says growing numbers of people in Grimsby with Covid are needing hospital treatment.

“Sadly, growing numbers of people are not surviving the virus. Local health services are under serious pressure and as winter tightens its grip, curbs on where we can go and who we can meet will need to stay in place to ensure that anything other than the most urgent care and treatment can continue to be provided,” it states.

North East Lincolnshire has gone from having the lowest infection rate in England to one of the highest.

Dr Wood said cases in our region were rising quickly and she expected that to continue over the next week or so.

“We are doing everything we can to support our staff but they are really starting to feel the strain; both emotionally and physically,” she said.

“We are having to make difficult decisions in the hospital on a daily basis, including cancelling some people’s planned surgery.

“This is not something we take lightly but if we don’t all do what we can to prevent the spread of coronavirus it is inevitable that more and more people will have procedures postponed or experience a long wait when they visit our emergency departments.

“If you are tiring of the restrictions, please think of the impact not adhering to them could have on your family and friends if they require treatment in the coming weeks.”

She added: “Whilst the news of a possible vaccine this week was encouraging, we don’t expect one to be widely available until 2021. Now is not the time to be complacent, we have to act.”

Photo: Mufid Majnun, for illustrative purposes

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