An infectious diseases consultant who treated the UK’s first coronavirus patients said he never thought there would be 100,000 Covid-related deaths in the UK.
Consultant Dr Matt Schmid, who led the team that treated the first patients at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, said the national network of infectious disease units acted as a “buffer” for the wider NHS in those early weeks.
Initially, coronavirus patients were only treated in high consequence infectious disease (HCID) wards like the isolated 18-bed unit in Newcastle.
Speaking ahead of the January 31 anniversary, Dr Schmid said: “I’m being honest, I didn’t think by this time we would have over 100,000 deaths.
NHS boss thanks staff ahead of the one year anniversary of the first UK Covid case
January 31 marks a year since the first confirmed coronavirus cases in Britain
Chief Executive of the National Health Service in England, Sir Simon Stevens, speaking with Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) operatives Andrew Staley (left) and Michael Hulme
Never miss another Nottinghamshire story by signing up to our free email updatesInvalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.
Subscribe
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.