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https://www.wsj.com/articles/britains-creaking-national-health-system-gears-up-for-coronavirus-crisis-11585479601

EXCERPTS

LONDON—A vast convention center in east London is being turned into a sprawling hospital that can handle up to 4,000 patients. Thousands of retired nurses and doctors are being drafted back to work. The British army is delivering protective clothing to dozens of hospitals around the country.As the new coronavirus spreads here, Britain’s tightly funded National Health Service is taking drastic action to manage a crisis that some worry will overwhelm it.

How the NHS deals with an expected flood of patients will test whether a relatively low-cost, state-run health care system that is free at the point of delivery proves more resilient than its U.S. equivalent.The British system is limping into the crisis following 10 years of government belt tightening.

“This is a real problem at the moment,” said Chris Ham, a former director of strategy at Britain’s Department of Health. “The chickens are coming home to roost.” Already, doctors are complaining about a lack of protective clothing, with one NHS supplier reaching out to hardware stores to donate protective masks. The NHS is also struggling to ramp up mass testing for the coronavirus.

Going into the pandemic, U.K. hospital bed numbers had halved in three decades to 140,000, according to the King’s Fund, a health care charity.

More than 90% of hospital beds were occupied for all but four days of the 2017-18 winter, according to the British Medical Association, the doctors’ trade union. “It always runs right on the edge,” Mr. Edwards said.

The U.K. had 2.1 acute hospital beds—those where a patient receives treatment for severe injuries or illnesses—for every 1,000 inhabitants. That is among the lowest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to 2017 data, and compares with 2.4 beds per 1,000 in the U.S.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/italy-reports-second-straight-daily-drop-in-ccp-virus-deaths_3289999.html

Italian health officials reported a second daily drop in CCP virus deaths, hoping that strict measures implemented by the government will help curb the spread of the disease.

Italy’s Civil Protection agency said on Sunday that 756 people died from the virus in the past 24 hours, compared to 889 on Saturday as well as 919 deaths on Friday, according to ANSA.

The total number of those who have succumbed to the virus is now 10,779 in the country. New infections in the past 24 hours totaled 5,217, compared with 5,974 during the previous day, officials said in an update, bringing the number of cases to above 97,000.

The drop in numbers shows that Italians must continue to adhere to national lockdown measures, said officials. Politicians in the country have been quick to seize on drops in cases and deaths as proof that the lockdown is working.

“We must be even more convinced in respecting such measures,” said pulmonologist and government committee member Luca Richeldi during the conference. “The battle is very long, we must not let our guard down. In particular, the drop in deaths and ICU admissions gives solid and concrete data.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/north-korea-fires-more-missiles-than-ever-amid-ccp-virus-pandemic_3289909.html

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the ocean off its east coast on Sunday, the latest in an unprecedented flurry of launches that South Korea decried as “inappropriate” amid the global CCP virus pandemic, also known as the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Two “short-range projectiles” were launched from the coastal Wonsan area, and flew 143 miles at a maximum altitude of 19 miles, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported.

“In a situation where the entire world is experiencing difficulties due to COVID-19, this kind of military act by North Korea is very inappropriate and we call for an immediate halt,” South Korea’s JCS said in a statement, according to Yonhap news agency.

Japan’s Ministry of Defense said they appeared to be ballistic missiles, and they did not land in Japanese territory or its exclusive economic zone.

They would be the eighth and ninth missiles launched in four rounds of tests this month as North Korean troops conduct ongoing military drills, usually personally overseen by leader Kim Jong Un.