UK's Covid alert level lowered with NHS no longer at threat of being overwhelmed

Sarah Knapton
·2 min read
Ambulance staff pushes a bed with an patient outside the Royal London hospital in London - Shutterstock
Ambulance staff pushes a bed with an patient outside the Royal London hospital in London - Shutterstock

Britain’s coronavirus alert level has been downgraded as health chiefs accepted the NHS is no longer in danger of being overwhelmed by the pandemic.

The threat level was lowered from the highest ‘level 5’ to ‘level 4’ after all four UK chief medical officers (CMOs) and the NHS England national medical director confirmed that the number of hospital patients was "consistently" declining.

The change is important because decreasing hospitalisations so that the NHS is not overwhelmed is one of Boris Johnson’s four tests which must be met before lockdown can be eased.

In a joint statement, the four CMOs and Prof Stephen Powis, the NHS England national medical director, said: “Thanks to the efforts of the public we are now seeing numbers consistently declining, and the threat of the NHS and other health services being overwhelmed within 21 days has receded.

“We should be under no illusions – transmission rates, hospital pressures and deaths are still very high. In time, the vaccines will have a major impact and we encourage everyone to get vaccinated when they receive the offer.

“However for the time being it is really important that we all – vaccinated or not – remain vigilant and continue to follow the guidelines.”

The coronavirus alert system was brought in last May as the Government sought its way out of the initial lockdown – and moved the alert level from 4 to 3 at that time.

The ‘level 5’ alert was announced on Jan 4 as lockdown measures were introduced by the Prime Minister amid fears the health service could be swamped within three weeks.

Level four means coronavirus transmission remains "high," and health services are still "under significant pressure with a high number of patients in hospital".

A move to level three would allow for the first relaxation of measures to happen and is likely to come in the next fortnight.

However, Chris Hopson, NHS Providers chief executive, said the alert level may have dropped but there was a "long way to go yet".

He said: "No one in NHS (is) anywhere near declaring this phase of battle won."