The United Kingdom becomes the first European country to exceed the threshold of 150,000 deaths due to Covid, since the start of the pandemic.
With our correspondent in London, Emeline Wine
In total, 200 soldiers, including 40 doctors, will strengthen the staff of London hospitals for three weeks, hospitals put under strain by the increase in the number of patients and especially by the isolation of caregivers. Nearly 5,000 of them are absent, most of them because of Covid-19 or contact cases. What threatens the continuity and accessibility of care.
A taxi for emergencies
Elsewhere, in the north-west of England, some 150 soldiers will also come to reinforce the ambulance services from Tuesday – with one in four paramedics stopped, patients must take a taxi to the emergency room.
The army has been deployed since the start of the pandemic in the United Kingdom; 1,800 soldiers are already working to protect public services across the country.
Deaths are increasing
But the precarious situation created by Omicron in hospital services threatens to last throughout the month of January: if the rate of contamination slows down in London, it takes off in the rest of England. Deaths are also starting to increase (+ 40% in one week). The government refuses to impose new restrictions.
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