Several British hospitals are worried about the growing number of children hospitalized for Covid-19.
The country has been under extended confinement since December 31 and more than 50,000 daily cases are recorded.
In an interview with BBC radio and the
Telegraph
, the director of King's College Hospital in London referred to “
entire rooms
” devoted to children with Covid-19.
Children and young adults who had no problems previously.
“
We have children coming.
They weren't affected very much in the first wave, ”
said Laura Duffel.
The government, while extending the confinement to other regions, in fact announced on Friday January 1 the postponement of the start of the school year for many students.
College and high school students see their return to school postponed by one week for those having exams at the end of the year, and two weeks for others, Education Minister Gavin Williamson announced in Parliament.
Primary school students "
in a small number of regions with the highest infection rates
" will also be affected, even if "
the majority of primary schools will reopen as planned on Monday January 4,
" added the minister.
The United Kingdom, where a new, more contagious variant of the new coronavirus has been identified, has recorded a record number of infections in recent days.
This raises fears of the worst for the weeks to come as hospitals are already on the verge of collapse in some areas.
The United Kingdom has one of the worst tolls of the pandemic in Europe with 72,548 deaths within 28 days of being tested positive, including nearly a thousand recorded on Wednesday.
The number of people tested positive for Covid-19 exceeds 2.4 million, including more than 50,000 registered in 24 hours, according to the latest report on Wednesday.
In addition, a first case of the variant identified in the United Kingdom in December was confirmed in France on December 25, in Tours, on a Frenchman who arrived from London a few days earlier.
The British variant, dubbed "VOC 202012/01", was also detected on December 30 in a second person who had also stayed in the United Kingdom, Public Health France said on Thursday, December 31, without specifying in which region.
