UK officials said thousands more ventilators will be made available as of next week (Picture: AFP)

Thousands of ventilators will soon be delivered to hospitals across the UK in a bid to accommodate the surge in coronavirus-stricken patients.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, said there are currently 8,000 ventilators deployed in NHS hospitals – but more are needed to cope with the pandemic. He also revealed there are currently more than 10,000 people hospitalised with Covid-19 across the UK.

Mr Gove said on Tuesday evening that the government is buying more ventilators from abroad, including EU nations, and also developing new models at home. It comes after the government faced mounting criticism over the lack of ventilators available, with many questioning why the NHS wasn’t already prepared.



He said: ‘I can announce that this weekend the first of thousands of new ventilator devices will roll off the production line and be delivered to the NHS next week. From there, they will be rapidly distributed to the frontline.’


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The rate of hospital admission have been increasing (Picture: NHS)

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Mr Gove said: ‘We have just over 8,000 ventilators deployed in NHS hospitals now. This number has increased since the epidemic began thanks to the hard work of NHS professionals, but we need more.

‘That’s why we are buying more ventilators from abroad, including from EU nations.

‘It’s also why we are developing new sources of supply at home.’

Earlier today, the Department of Health confirmed that the UK death toll has now reached 1,789. It was the highest daily rate of deaths so far, after 367 patients in England died, and 13 in Scotland recorded 13.

A further seven people were confirmed dead in Wales, while Northern Ireland recorded six more deaths today. The patients were aged between 19 to 98, and 28 patients had no pre-existing health conditions.

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The shortage of ventilators has been a great source of concern amid the pandemic (Credits: PA)

Michael Gove told the press conference that there are currently 8,000 ventilators in the UK (Picture: AFP)

Joining Mr Gove, the medical director of NHS England, Professor Stephen Powis, insisted for most who catch the virus, they will suffer a mild illness but ‘small numbers’ will be hospitalised.

He said, however, that the rate of hospitalisation has been increasing, adding that a third of admissions have been in London, where the virus is spreading more rapidly than other parts of the UK. Professor Powis added that the NHS Nightingale field hospital, which will hold up to 4,000, will be ready to accept its first Covid-19 patients this week.

He also said there is evidence the public is sticking to social distancing measures and as a result, there was a ‘bit of a plateau’ in the number of new confirmed cases. But he warned this is not a reason to slacken efforts.

‘It is really important not to read too much because it is really early days. We are not out of the woods, we are very much in the woods,’ he said, referencing NHS graphs.

‘So green shoots, but only green shoots, and we must not be complacent and we must not take our foot off the pedal.’

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Mr Gove also insisted the NHS has ‘formidable resources and advantages’ in responding to coronavirus.



He said: ‘We learn from other countries, we collaborate with other countries and I think it’s certainly the case that different countries with different health care systems have approached dealing with the virus in overlapping, complementary ways.

‘I think that one of the things I would say, just observing it, is that the NHS has formidable resources and advantages.

‘The dedication of our staff, the fact that we can stand up a new hospital like NHS Nightingale so quickly, and the quality of the data and the scientific input that I see when I observe the work of dedicated NHS professionals and scientists.

‘I’m in awe of it so I think that we should be, all of us, grateful that we have the NHS and that we have the academic excellence that underpins it but of course we can and are learning from other nations in their approach to dealing with the virus.’

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