Inside UK's first coronavirus mega-hospital (PHOTOS)
Incredible images from inside the ExCeL Centre show construction work to transform the exhibition centre into London's emergency coronavirus hospital is underway.
The ExCeL London Centre is being refitted to create thousands of new beds for COVID-19 sufferers, complete with oxygen, ventilators and other key equipment in the battle against the deadly virus.
The exhibition centre, in East London, will become the NHS Nightingale Hospital, creating an impressive 4,000 beds.
Before the scale of the crisis became clear, the UK was believed to have had one of the lowest proportions of intensive care units in Europe, but NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens says 33,000 beds are now available for COVID-19 patients.
Just under 4,000 people in London have been infected with the virus, according to the latest government figures. At least 180 people in the city have died.
Mayor Sadiq Khan warned Londoners yesterday: 'I need to warn people that it is going to a lot worse over the next few weeks.
'But we are going to do what we can for that eventuality. The number of people we are talking about are large and we need to be ready for that.
'You will have seen the amount of dead already in London, we are two or three weeks ahead of the rest of the country and we know the peak is coming soon, three to five weeks away.'
Ambulances were seen lining up outside the exhibition centre, soon to become the NHS Nightingale Hospital, on Saturday morning, as workers were busy transforming the building inside.
Military planners are working with Health Service officials to create the new hospital in the capital from scratch to accommodate rising numbers of patients.
Extraordinary pictures show how hundreds of cubicles were being erected inside the vast space to create a layout resembling a hospital ward.
The completed hospital will comprise of two wards, each able to house 2,000 sick patients.
Ambulance workers this morning unloaded medical equipment including oxygen tanks, heart monitors and defibrillators outside NHS Nightingale.
Other medical staff carried out 'dummy runs', wheeling a model of a fake patient on a trolley into the ExCel exhibition centre on Saturday morning.
The building is expected to open as a fully-functioning hospital by next Saturday, April 4.
It comes as the UK death toll surged by 181 yesterday as Government advisers warned that even stricter social distancing measures could be on the way.
It is by far the biggest daily increase and means the disease has claimed 759 lives, including young and previously healthy people.
Government advisers said stricter social distancing policies may have to be rolled out next month if the grim figures continued to rise.
The measures would be introduced in three weeks as the outbreak reached its peak to further reduce 'person-to-person interaction'.
Police chiefs are also encouraging Britons to snitch on neighbours they suspect of breaching the coronavirus lockdown rules put in place to protect them and the rest of the public.
Humberside, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, and Avon and Somerset have created a mixture of 'hotlines' and 'online portals' where people can submit tip-offs if lockdown infractions occur.
Snoopers who want to punish or threaten alleged rule-breakers into compliance can report cases directly to designated coronavirus police task forces.
The NHS has warned of a potential 'tsunami' of COVID-19 patients in the capital over the coming weeks before the capital reaches its peak of infections as concerns grow that the crisis in the capital is escalating.
The number of coronavirus cases in London has almost quadrupled in a week as the UK's epidemic continues to spread into all corners of the British Isles.
The capital city now has at least 4,637 cases, a jump from the 1,221 reported last Friday, three days before Britons were ordered to stay indoors to try and stop the outbreak.
Some 228 of the 759 deaths recorded in Britain have been in London, including 57 of the 181 announced on Friday.
Scientists say the official figures represent the fallout of Britons carrying on their lives as normal before lockdown, cramming into pubs and working in offices despite COVID-19 cases emerging.
Birmingham is the single local authority with the most cases, with 366 confirmed patients, and the West Midlands around it has become the biggest hotspot outside of London, with more than 1,630 cases.
However, nearby Rutland, in the East Midlands, has reported zero cases so far.
Yesterday the bombshell news that The Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock have both tested positive for coronavirus shook the Government.
The ExCeL London Centre is being refitted to create thousands of new beds for COVID-19 sufferers, complete with oxygen, ventilators and other key equipment in the battle against the deadly virus.
The exhibition centre, in East London, will become the NHS Nightingale Hospital, creating an impressive 4,000 beds.
Before the scale of the crisis became clear, the UK was believed to have had one of the lowest proportions of intensive care units in Europe, but NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens says 33,000 beds are now available for COVID-19 patients.
Just under 4,000 people in London have been infected with the virus, according to the latest government figures. At least 180 people in the city have died.
Mayor Sadiq Khan warned Londoners yesterday: 'I need to warn people that it is going to a lot worse over the next few weeks.
'But we are going to do what we can for that eventuality. The number of people we are talking about are large and we need to be ready for that.
'You will have seen the amount of dead already in London, we are two or three weeks ahead of the rest of the country and we know the peak is coming soon, three to five weeks away.'
Ambulances were seen lining up outside the exhibition centre, soon to become the NHS Nightingale Hospital, on Saturday morning, as workers were busy transforming the building inside.
Military planners are working with Health Service officials to create the new hospital in the capital from scratch to accommodate rising numbers of patients.
Extraordinary pictures show how hundreds of cubicles were being erected inside the vast space to create a layout resembling a hospital ward.
The completed hospital will comprise of two wards, each able to house 2,000 sick patients.
Ambulance workers this morning unloaded medical equipment including oxygen tanks, heart monitors and defibrillators outside NHS Nightingale.
Other medical staff carried out 'dummy runs', wheeling a model of a fake patient on a trolley into the ExCel exhibition centre on Saturday morning.
The building is expected to open as a fully-functioning hospital by next Saturday, April 4.
It comes as the UK death toll surged by 181 yesterday as Government advisers warned that even stricter social distancing measures could be on the way.
It is by far the biggest daily increase and means the disease has claimed 759 lives, including young and previously healthy people.
Government advisers said stricter social distancing policies may have to be rolled out next month if the grim figures continued to rise.
The measures would be introduced in three weeks as the outbreak reached its peak to further reduce 'person-to-person interaction'.
Police chiefs are also encouraging Britons to snitch on neighbours they suspect of breaching the coronavirus lockdown rules put in place to protect them and the rest of the public.
Humberside, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, and Avon and Somerset have created a mixture of 'hotlines' and 'online portals' where people can submit tip-offs if lockdown infractions occur.
Snoopers who want to punish or threaten alleged rule-breakers into compliance can report cases directly to designated coronavirus police task forces.
The NHS has warned of a potential 'tsunami' of COVID-19 patients in the capital over the coming weeks before the capital reaches its peak of infections as concerns grow that the crisis in the capital is escalating.
The number of coronavirus cases in London has almost quadrupled in a week as the UK's epidemic continues to spread into all corners of the British Isles.
The capital city now has at least 4,637 cases, a jump from the 1,221 reported last Friday, three days before Britons were ordered to stay indoors to try and stop the outbreak.
Some 228 of the 759 deaths recorded in Britain have been in London, including 57 of the 181 announced on Friday.
Scientists say the official figures represent the fallout of Britons carrying on their lives as normal before lockdown, cramming into pubs and working in offices despite COVID-19 cases emerging.
Birmingham is the single local authority with the most cases, with 366 confirmed patients, and the West Midlands around it has become the biggest hotspot outside of London, with more than 1,630 cases.
However, nearby Rutland, in the East Midlands, has reported zero cases so far.
Yesterday the bombshell news that The Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock have both tested positive for coronavirus shook the Government.
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