Colchester Hospital: Covid deniers removed from 'at capacity' hospital

Security officers removed Covid-19 "deniers" who were taking pictures of empty corridors at a NHS hospital where the intensive care unit is at maximum capacity, its chief executive said.

The incident took place at Colchester Hospital at the weekend.

Chief executive Nick Hulme said it "beggars belief" some people were calling the pandemic a hoax.

He said it was "the right thing to do" to keep corridors in outpatients units as empty as possible.

Mr Hulme said hospital security had to "remove people who were taking photographs of empty corridors and then posting them on social media, saying the hospital is not in crisis".

"When you've got that sort of social media pressure and those people denying the reality of Covid it really concerns us. Words fail me," he said.

"Why would people do that when we all know somebody who has died from Covid?

"Of course there are empty corridors at the weekend in outpatients, because that's the right thing to do.

"We are facing the biggest health challenge we've ever seen and we are still seeing people flouting the [social distancing] rules."

Under coronavirus pandemic restrictions on social distancing, many outpatient consultations had been moved online or were taking place over the telephone, he added.

Physical appointments, tests and procedures had been organised differently to avoid crowded waiting areas.

Mr Hulme is chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust which also runs Ipswich Hospital and he said there were currently 320 patients being treated for Covid-19 across both sites.

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