North East health bosses say we have a "window of opportunity" to curb the spread of COVID-19
Health bosses in the North East say there is a 'window of opportunity' to curb the spread of COVID-19 and limit pressure on the health service.
There's been a sharp rise in cases across our communities over the past seven days - and that's also meant an increase in hospital admissions.
ITV Tyne Tees has heard from frontline staff, who say they're seeing cases as a result of families mixing over Christmas.
Winter pressures on the health service are nothing new, but this January, NHS workers have even more to contend with. Like hospital staff across the country, medics at the University Hospital of North Tees are dealing with COVID-19 patients, but on top of that they are also treating people with other winter illnesses common for this time of the year.
The hospital has faced relentless pressure from COVID over the past two months. At one point, the doctors and nurses were treating more than two hundred patients with the virus.
Although coronavirus cases aren't quite at that level currently, staff say they are now seeing the impact of households mixing over Christmas.
Health workers are also feeling the strain of shortages, as doctors and nurses contact the virus and have to self-isolate. Medics told ITV Tyne Tees that there are some day when they are working on a skeleton staff.
COVID rates have risen significantly across the region over recent days, with some areas, like Hartlepool, seeing particularly high figures. The region's medical director says there is time to prevent a crisis, but everyone must play their part.
Professor Gray said it is no time for the public to become complacent, adding; "It probably will continue for a little longer but actually we've got to stop any further peak and that's down to each and every one of us."