Chesterfield Royal Hospital provides coronavirus update – as Boris Johnson warns third wave may ‘wash up on our shores’

At 10am on Monday, staff at the Royal were looking after 20 patients with Covid-19 – seven of whom were in critical care.

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In total, the trust has recorded 438 deaths linked to coronavirus, and condolences have been paid to their loved ones.

Members of the public are being urged to continue abiding by lockdown restrictions.

Several European countries – including France, Italy and Poland – are now under new coronavirus restrictions to combat fresh waves of infections.

European leaders have recently faced criticism regarding the slow pace of the vaccine roll-out on the continent – with less than 12 per cent of the EU’s population reported to have received jabs, compared with a nearly 40 per cent vaccination rate in the UK.

During a visit to Preston in Lancashire on Monday, Mr Johnson said: “I think one thing worth stressing is that on the continent right now, you can see sadly there is a third wave under way.

“And people in this country should be under no illusions that previous experience has taught us that when a wave hits our friends, I’m afraid it washes up on our shores as well.

“I suspect we will feel those effects in due course – that’s why we're getting on with our vaccination programme as fast as we can.”

His comments come amid a row over Covid-19 vaccine supplies – after the president of the European Commission warned the EU could ‘forbid’ doses made in the bloc from being exported to the UK.

EU leaders are set to meet virtually on Thursday to discuss the matter and the Prime Minister is expected to call his EU counterparts individually before the meeting.

Mr Johnson added: “A vaccination campaign, developing vaccines, rolling them out – these are international projects and they require international co-operation.”

More than 27.6 million people in the UK – more than half the adult population – have now received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

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