A new coronavirus wave, rising Covid admissions to our region’s hospitals, and patients who could be put at risk by impending staff shortages. This is the latest picture in Greater Manchester hospitals, frontline staff have warned.
It is ‘no surprise’ that coronavirus rates are in a renewed spiral, according to Greater Manchester’s lead Director of Public Health. Almost three weeks to the day after the government rolled back the remaining Covid safety measures, including isolation rules for those testing positive, virus figures were back on the climb.
But while the official picture is one of getting back to normal and ‘living safely with Covid’ - the region’s NHS medics and managers say different. Greater Manchester’s hospitals have only battled back from ‘one admission away from disaster’ as they fought Omicron in the New Year. The situation is still ‘on a knife edge’, and an uptick in coronavirus cases could spell yet more stress for staff, and risks to patient safety, according to an utterly pandemic-weary workforce.
