on the 2nd ofjanuary, up week—on—week from around 21100 — that's a 77% rise. giles latcham has been to russells hall hospital in dudley to see the impact it's having there. like many hospitals, russells hall is at a pinch point, the number of patients here with covid stands at 7a, and that has doubled in the space of a week. the number of staff isolating with covid or other illnesses is running at 12%, and that amounts to a major challenge. we're really keen to keep going with our restoration and recovery plans. at the moment e have managed to do that. but i think if the numbers start to go up more then we're going to have to risk assess and look at what elective cases can't go ahead in our hospital. but at the moment, we are continuing to do everything. my plea to the public will be come to hospital as an emergency only if you need to. but please use the 111 service first.