Covid: Plymouth health boss warns of 'tough weeks' to come

Derriford Hospital has about 500 Covid-19 related staff absences, and has declared a critical incident

A health boss warns of "tough weeks" to come as Covid cases continue to rise.

Dr Ruth Harrell, Plymouth's director of public health, said "the battle is a long way from over".

Covid cases have increased across most of south-west England in recent weeks.

The city's Derriford Hospital has about 500 Covid-19 related staff absences, and has declared a critical incident after a "tough" period over Christmas and new year.

Dr Harrell said: "The pressures are absolutely huge and we feel desperately sorry for the staff trying to manage all of this, trying to support patients and their families.

"It doesn't actually take national legislation to stop people going out and mixing so much, we need to do it ourselves."

The latest figures for Plymouth show 1,248 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the seven days up to and including 31 December.

Dr Harrell said: "We've never had rates this high, and that is impacting the staff in numbers, and the number of people needing treatment in hospital.

"The battle is a long way from over at the moment and we're probably going to be facing a very tough few weeks."