PM mourns ‘terrible toll’

LONDON – More than 150,000 people have died after catching coronavirus in the United Kingdom, the government said on January 8, in a tragic milestone for one of the worst affected countries in Europe.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson posted a message on Twitter saying: “Coronavirus has taken a terrible toll on our country and today the number of deaths recorded has reached 150,000.” Earlier, he said hospitals were on a “war footing” due to staff shortages, with many hospital groups declaring “critical incidents” because of the threat to crucial services.

The government reported that deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test had reached 150,057 since the start of the pandemic. Russia is the only European country with a higher reported death toll, at almost 315,000.

In a tweet on a black background, Johnson said that “each and every one of those” who died “is a profound loss to the families, friends and communities affected and my thoughts and condolences are with them”.

The number of daily reported cases in the UK surged to a record figure of more than 200,000 last week, but has subsided slightly in recent days with 146,390 cases reported in the last 24 hours.

Severe staff shortages

Britain deployed troops to hospitals in London to alleviate severe staff shortages caused by the Omicron outbreak.

Around 200 armed forces personnel joined health workers in the capital, which has been particularly badly hit by the recent upsurge in coronavirus cases leading to mass staff absences in hospitals.

“The men and women of our armed forces are once again stepping up to support their dedicated colleagues in the NHS (National Health Service) as they work hand-in-hand to protect the nation from Covid-19,” said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. “They have shown their worth time and again throughout this pandemic, whether driving ambulances, administering vaccines or supporting patients in hospital, and they should be proud of their contribution to this truly national effort.”

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said there were several thousand NHS staff absent and that “having 200 extra people is going to help but it’s only a very small part of what will continue to be a very difficult situation”.