London’s hospitals are facing a shortage of intensive care beds due to the growing number of coronavirus cases in the UK. This follows from the plot of the British television channel SkyNews, published on January 2.

As early as December 31, four large hospitals in north London reported a lack of places in intensive care units. According to the National Health Service of the country, the capital’s medical institutions accept patients for urgent medical care, as well as by appointment.

At the same time, in most hospitals in London, planned operations are practically suspended. At the same time, experts warned that the current cases of COVID are “fairly mild” compared to what is expected in a week.

Almost 24 thousand people are currently hospitalized in the UK after contracting COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 260 thousand people have been hospitalized with a diagnosis of COVID-19 in the country with 2.5 million confirmed cases of infection.

The situation with the coronavirus in the UK has become more complicated after the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on December 19 that the new strain of coronavirus is 70% more infectious, but there is no information that it causes more severe complications or high mortality.

In turn, scientists from the Center for Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases at the London School said that the “British” strain of coronavirus is 56% more infectious than the original.