A TOP nurse has warned Southend Hospital is in a “very bad way” as it continues to deal with rising levels of Covid-19 patients.

Lisa Ward, lead respiratory nurse at Southend Hospital, spoke after her shift at the hospital on New Year’s Eve as medics valiantly care for patients following a surge in coronavirus cases. 

She also urged people to stay at home as the county gets set for a winter in Tier 4 - and to even avoid buying alcohol or coffee from takeaway windows. 

She said: “Just come home from our hospital and I implore you believe me, we are in a very bad way.

“Stay home during the day or night. Don’t buy alcohol or coffee from pub windows.”

Echo:

Warning - Lisa Ward

She also reacted to videos online of revellers partying as usual bringing in the New Year and warned people must stay home to protect each other and NHS staff.

She added: “Gatherings - these folk need to now get home.

“So disappointing - the virus hops from person to person to person to person.

“We in the hospitals are getting busier and busier - stay home, protect each other and protect staff at hospitals to look after the sick.”

Her pleas comes after hospital bosses at the Mid and South Essex Trust urgently called for doctors to come forward to fill 1,200 empty shifts across the trust over the next week.

The appeal was sent out to medics in south Essex as the NHS continues to battle unprecedented demand caused by a huge spike in coronavirus cases.

Her warning comes as 4,000 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed across Essex on New Year’s Eve.

In the Essex County Council area, there were 3,107 cases confirmed while in Southend there were 408.

In Thurrock, there were 487.

Southend Council figures show as of New Year’s Eve the case rate per 100,000 in the borough was 968.2 and that in the 60 and over group was 659.5.

Across the rest of Essex the case rate per 100,000 was recorded as 900 as of December 27.