Hospitals prepare as coronavirus cases rise in the Anglia region

Watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Rebecca Haworth

Hospitals in the Anglia region are preparing for a second wave as coronavirus cases in the Anglia region increase by nearly 300 in a day.

Hospitality businesses are also bracing themselves for new restrictions coming into force on Thursday when pubs and restaurants will have to close their doors by 10pm.

Ward 23 in Milton Keynes Hospital is the area patients go to for emergency surgery. The new restrictions won't have any impact here, as they've had Covid-secure measures in place since the beginning of lockdown. Staff have had to adapt to new ways of working, and are now preparing themselves for a second wave this winter. Joe Harrison, Chief Executive Milton Keynes Hospital: "The first wave taught us a lot here, and now what we're good at doing is making sure that any patient that comes to our hospital who is symptomatic, who shows signs of having Covid-19 is kept in a particular area away from other patients, who aren't presenting with symptoms. So we've learnt a lot how to manage those patients, and we believe that we are well prepared, or as well prepared as we can be."

Dr Emma Tiffin, a GP from Cambridgeshire said people shouldn't underestimate the risk of catching coronavirus. She says it is important to minimise contact to reduce the risk of infection.

The new rules are going to have a huge impact on pubs though. From Thursday, they'll have to close by 10pm, a logic which many are struggling to get their heads round. Cheryl Hickman, co-owner of The Bull Inn at Barton Mills in Suffolk said: "In here, someone would be just as safe between 10pm and 11pm - our normal opening times, as they would at 10am until 11am, so I find it a but difficult that it's been forced on everyone but it seems to have been the way all along." Kellie Dennis, a waitress at the Old Red Lion pub at Great Brickhill near Milton Keynes says it has left them unsure of how to enforce the rules.

Pubs and restaurants will be forced to close early at 10pm from Thursday Credit: ITV News Anglia

As cases begin to rise again, it's causing concern for people who have been shielding like Caroline Wright in Milton Keynes. She has underlying health conditions and hasn't left her house since February. Caroline said: "I don't think they're clear enough and I don't think they go far enough. I think we came out of lockdown too quickly, there was a relaxing of the restrictions and everybody went completely mad. I saw them on the beach at Bournemouth and I nearly had a turn! How can you keep 2 meters away from somebody who is six inches from you?" And the government has done a u-turn on office working - and is now encouraging people to work from home again.