NHS doctor trapped in coronavirus-hit Italy begs the UK Government to shut down EVERYTHING

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An NHS doctor trapped in coronavirus-hit Italy has begged the UK Government to ‘shut down everything’ in the fight against the killer infection.

Professor Mohamed Abu Hilal, writing from Brescia, north Italy, urged officials to prepare more beds, doctors and nurses in the NHS in light of the fiasco happening in the worst hit country of Europe. 

He warned it’s not only the elderly who are dying of COVID-19, although figures suggest they are the most vulnerable. 

Italy put full-scale lockdowns nationwide in place on Monday, with court action and fines threatened for people breaking imposed curfews. 

Schools, cafes, hairdressers and restaurants have been closed as 60million residents are told to stay in their homes in ‘social distancing’ measures in order to curb the escalating crisis there.

Mounting pressure has built on the Government to move quickly to impose similar rules because it’s feared the UK is heading the same direction as Italy, where 12,462 cases and 827 deaths have been confirmed. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will today hold an emergency meeting and is expected to move the ‘battle plan’ into the next stage.  

It follows a surge of 85 in the UK cases yesterday. Now, a total of 460 people have tested positive for COVID-19 nationwide, an eight-fold increase in a single week.  

Professor Mohamed Abu Hilal, writing from Brescia, north Italy, warned officials must prepare more beds, doctors and nurses in light of the fiasco happening in Italy

Italy has put full scale lock downs in place, with court action and fines threatened for people breaking imposed curfews. Pictured, sanitary workers disinfecting the streets in Naples

Italy has put full scale lock downs in place, with court action and fines threatened for people breaking imposed curfews. Pictured, sanitary workers disinfecting the streets in Naples

Professor Abu Hilal, who works in pancreatic and minimally invasive surgery at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, appears to be trapped in Italy. He penned: 'Beds are full. Goverments must shut down everything, prepare beds, ventilators , antivirals, doctors and nurses. People should stay at HOME! [sic]'

Professor Abu Hilal, who works in pancreatic and minimally invasive surgery at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, appears to be trapped in Italy. He penned: ‘Beds are full. Goverments must shut down everything, prepare beds, ventilators , antivirals, doctors and nurses. People should stay at HOME! [sic]’

This combo of two images shows Rome's ancient Colosseum, top, on Sunday April 8, 2018, and bottom, on March 11, 2020. Italy's grave outbreak of coronavirus has emptied landmarks

This combo of two images shows Rome’s ancient Colosseum, top, on Sunday April 8, 2018, and bottom, on March 11, 2020. Italy’s grave outbreak of coronavirus has emptied landmarks

Pictured top, Rome's Spanish Steps on November 14, 2019, and top, on  March 10, 2020

Pictured top, Rome’s Spanish Steps on November 14, 2019, and top, on  March 10, 2020

This combo of two images shows tourists sitting in front of the Pantheon, in Rome, on June 7, 2019, top and bottom, on March 11, 2020

This combo of two images shows tourists sitting in front of the Pantheon, in Rome, on June 7, 2019, top and bottom, on March 11, 2020

Total confirmed infections in Europe has topped 23,000 with 951 deaths, according to a new tally which is compiled from official sources.

In Italy a rise in cases of 31 per cent was reported today by the Civil Protection Agency, the largest increase in absolute numbers since the contagion came to light on February 21. 

In drastic moves overnight, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the latest wave of restrictions would see all shops except pharmacies and food outlets closed in response to the country’s coronavirus outbreak. 

Italy’s grave outbreak of coronavirus has already emptied landmarks and tourist hotspots, leaving streets eerily quiet, and halted flights between the UK and various other countries. 

Professor Abu Hilal, who works in pancreatic and minimally invasive surgery at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, appears to be trapped in Italy although it is not clear if he is working or on holiday there. The trust has been contacted for comment.

He penned: ‘Form Brescia north of Italy : to my friends accross the glob !COVID19 is serious, feels to be in a war! People are dying, not only elderly. 

‘Beds are full. Goverments must shut down everything, prepare beds, ventilators , antivirals, doctors and nurses. People should stay at HOME! [sic]’

Medics on the frontline in Italy have spoken about their health service struggling to cope with the strain of extra hospital admissions, despite the World Health Organization ranking it second globally for overall performance after France.

It is now being considered to admit patients on a ‘first come first served’ basis, and to use ‘catastrophe medicine’ guidelines – typically used in war zones and during natural disasters – where those with the greatest chance of survival are given priority. 

Giorgio Gori, Bergamo mayor, tweeted: ‘It seems that the increase [in the number of cases] is slowing down, but it’s only because we have no longer beds in intensive care (few are added with great effort). Patients who cannot be treated are left to die’, the Financial Times reported.

Leading UK doctors have already expressed their concern the the NHS will cripple under the pressure of a full-scale coronavirus outbreak. 

The Government have acknowledged the UK will see thousands more diagnosed with COVID-19 and have said they are ‘following the science’ in terms of appropriate restrictions to limit the spread.

But Professor Abu Hilal’s thoughts echo those of other leading medical figures who have criticised the Governments response, such as Richard Horton, chief editor of the prestigious Lancet medical journal.

Writing on Twitter last night, Mr Horton said: ‘The UK Government – Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson – claim they are following the science. But that is not true. 

‘The evidence is clear. We need urgent implementation of social distancing and closure policies. The Government is playing roulette with the public. This is a major error.’ 

Pictured, a coronavirus emergency checkpoint and triage point at Civile Hospital in Brescia, Italy. Cases in the country have jumped sharply in the last 24 hours

Pictured, a coronavirus emergency checkpoint and triage point at Civile Hospital in Brescia, Italy. Cases in the country have jumped sharply in the last 24 hours 

A deserted square outside the Duomo in Milan yesterday. The Italian government has imposed unprecedented restrictions on its 60million people

A deserted square outside the Duomo in Milan yesterday. The Italian government has imposed unprecedented restrictions on its 60million people

A cyclist travelling down an empty street in Rome as locals and tourists stayed indoors

A cyclist travelling down an empty street in Rome as locals and tourists stayed indoors

Boris Johnson (pictured in the Commons yesterday) is chairing the emergency Cobra committee later where the strategy is expected to shift from 'containing' the killer disease to 'delaying' its inevitable spread in the UK

Boris Johnson (pictured in the Commons yesterday) is chairing the emergency Cobra committee later where the strategy is expected to shift from ‘containing’ the killer disease to ‘delaying’ its inevitable spread in the UK

Boris Johnson swipes at leaders who don’t ‘follow the science’ on coronavirus 

Boris Johnson has swiped at political leaders who don’t ‘follow the science’ on coronavirus.

The PM said many leaders were ‘under a lot of pressure to be seen to act’, as he suggested the UK will not impose dramatic restrictions yet.  

The comments – which pre-date Donald Trump’s ban on travellers from mainland Europe last night – came in a video posted on the No10 Twitter feed yesterday shows Mr Johnson chatting with Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries.

Mr Johnson said: ‘It’s noticeable that there are some countries where they have banned big sporting events and stopped mass gatherings of one kind or another. Tell us why so far the medical advice in this country is not to do that?’

Dr Harries replied that ‘expert modellers’ had looked at what would happen with the virus. 

‘In general those sorts of events and big gatherings are not seen as something that is going to have a big effect. So we don’t want to disrupt people’s lives,’ she said.

Mr Johnson said: ‘There’s obviously people under a lot pf pressure – politicians government around the world under a lot of pressure to be seen to act. So they may do things that are not necessarily dictated by the science.’

Dr Harries said: ‘I am absolutely delighted that we are following the science and the evidence.’ 

She added: ‘We have got very clear advice about when we should intervene and that is exactly what I think we should do.’ 

Good Morning Britain’s resident doctor, Dr Hilary Jones, said the government should have ‘banned mass gatherings’ a week ago.

Speaking of the significant surge in UK COVID-19 cases, Dr Hilary said: ‘Well I think this was predictable. We were always running containment and delay concurrently in reality, we always knew numbers were going to increase probably double every three to four days. 

‘We are on the same trajectory as Italy, if you look at the Italian situation overnight two hundred deaths nearly, so clearly this is very serious.

‘Having said that the delay phase is critical, people need to socially distance, we should have banned these mass gatherings probably a week ago’.

He added that he didn’t think the Cheltenham Festival should have gone ahead. 

It comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the crisis a global pandemic after an ‘alarming spread and severity’ of cases across the globe. 

Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom blasted governments for ignoring repeated WHO pleas to take urgent and aggressive action since the spread outside China rose 13-fold in the space of a fortnight.

UK ministers have – so far – stopped short of shifting the official strategy from the ‘contain’ phase. 

Mr Johnson claims that ‘scientific advice’ suggests the draconian measures are not yet necessary to stop big sporting events and mass gatherings in public places.

But there are reports that schools have been ordered to prepare for closures from March 20 that could last a month, which could cause havoc for millions of parents.

More than 320,000 people signed a petition to urge school and college closures across the UK to prevent the spread of COVID-19 – with 100,000 signatures being the minimum required to secure a debate on the matter in Parliament.

Ministers have already confirmed Britain will not follow Donald Trump’s dramatic overnight move of closing the borders to travellers from mainland Europe. 

Mr Trump blames the EU for failing to stop the killer virus in its tracks – but has exempted the UK and Ireland from his 30-day travel moratorium from midnight on Friday.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who yesterday unveiled a huge Budget package to ‘vaccinate’ the economy from the impact of coronavirus, today dismissed the prospect of the UK following the US example. He told the BBC he doesn’t think stopping European flights is the ‘right thing’.

‘The advice we are getting is that there is not evidence that interventions like closing borders or travel bans are going to have a material effect on the spread of the infections,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. ‘That is why we have taken the decisions that we have.’ 

Critics including Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage have been arguing for weeks that without a wider travel ban, EU freedom of movement is making the UK far more vulnerable to coronavirus.     

Yesterday the Budget handed hospitals a £5billion fighting fund. As well as this, thousands of firms will be given a business rates holiday to help avert the risk of bankruptcy. 

It followed Parliament facing chaos after five MPs and a cabinet minister went into self-isolation. Health minister Nadine Dorries was diagnosed with coronavirus, she announced yesterday, leading to a frantic search of anyone that came into close contact with her in the days previously.