London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 26, 2025

'Like a bomb had gone off on either side of their chest.' London doctors speak of 'continuous tsunami'

'Like a bomb had gone off on either side of their chest.' London doctors speak of 'continuous tsunami'

The rapidly rising number of deaths in Italy and Spain have placed Europe at the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis. Both countries now have higher death tolls than China, where the outbreak began, and with more than 7,500 fatalities Italy has the most deaths anywhere in the world.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last Sunday that the UK is only "two or three" weeks behind Italy, and warned that its National Health Service (NHS) could be "overwhelmed" by the virus, like its continental European counterparts. The following day, Johnson imposed the most stringent restrictions seen in Britain since the end of World War II, after it became clear that advice about social distancing was not being adhered to.

The country's health workers are now bracing for a wave of Covid-19 patients. Sanderson's hospital, the Whittington in north London, is one of a number of UK facilities that has already attempted to scale up capacity and transform the way it is being run, in an effort to accommodate an increase of arrivals in the past week. An emergency medicine registrar at a north London hospital, Dr. Robert Lloyd, returned from holiday this week to find his department had changed radically. "Over the last few days, it is empty in the morning and in the afternoon it gets flooded, literally flooded, completely at capacity, and all patients are almost perfectly positive [for coronavirus]."

This mirrors the situation at south London's King's College Hospital, which has spent weeks training staff and converting wards into intensive care units, according to a critical care worker, who wanted to remain anonymous out of concern that speaking publicly would put their job at risk. They added that the caseload "has been pretty unprecedented." King's College Hospital told CNN that it has been "training staff as required to be redeployed to support teams who are treating patients who test positive for Covid-19 as well as increasing bed capacity."

The case numbers are already increasing rapidly at hospitals in London, where coronavirus cases are rising faster than anywhere else in the country.

Chris Hopson, head of NHS Providers, which represents hospital administrators, said London was facing a "continuous tsunami" of coronavirus patients. In an interview with BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, Hopson said London hospitals had increased critical care capacity by between five and seven times in the past few weeks, but are now struggling to meet the "explosion of demand."

“is by far the biggest challenge the NHS has ever faced in its history and it is striking how everyone is pulling together to prepare for the explosion in demand that is going to come."

The critical care worker at King's said the main message that London health professionals want to get out to hospitals that have yet to be hit by cases is: "Do the preparation, because without it you won't be able to cope."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
×