Hospital ward is FULL of young people – coronavirus doctor issues terrifying warning

Dr Ami Jones, who is an intensive care consultant at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, said the hospital is “very, very busy”. She added that her unit is full of younger people ill with Covid-19 – not just the vulnerable and over-70s.

The intensive care consultant called on people to stay at home to stop the spread of the virus.

She said: “We are prepared to surge if we need to but we hope we don’t.

“We hope lockdown and social distancing will flatten the curve, but people do need to lock down.

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Dr Jones works for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, which has almost half the total number of coronavirus patients in Wales.

She said the hospital is “very prepared” and has “surge plans” in place.

Dr Jones said: “We are looking to exceed six times our normal critical care capacity, but it’s not just a case of giving us ventilators – we need more staff and we need other equipment.”

The intensive care consultant said she did not have concerns about the availability of personal protective equipment in the hospital.

She added: “I actually feel more at risk when I’m out shopping, because it’s full of people I can’t control who might not be washing their hand.”

Dr Jones said that Wales is “ahead of the curve with testing” and the health board has been swift in getting people swabbed.

She added: “Everybody is working really hard, being very professional.

“We are giving good patient care and I feel reassured what we are delivering to patients is of the highest standard.

“I hope we are able to continue doing that as patient numbers increase.”

It comes as there have been 29,474 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, with the death toll at 2,352.