Essex seeks military help and Buckinghamshire declares major incident over Covid surge

Council leaders fear health services will be overwhelmed by rising infections

Essex has requested military assistance and Buckinghamshire has declared a "major incident" as the two counties deal with a surge in coronavirus cases.

Bernard Jenkin, the MP for Harwich and North Essex, told parliament Essex council leaders had submitted a “Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) request” for the armed forces to help build and staff community hospitals to boost care capacity.

It comes after Essex declared a major incident on Wednesday morning, a move followed by Buckinghamshire Council later the same day.

Buckinghamshire council leader Martin Tett said there were fears a rise in Covid-19 cases, fuelled by the new variant of the virus, could overwhelm the county’s health services.

Figures up to Christmas Eve put the number of infections in Buckinghamshire at 514 per 100,000 people but that is projected to increase to nearly 800, double the average for England, by next week.

“Our rate in the over 60 years population is now putting our health and social care services under very severe pressure,” Mr Tett said.

Health leaders in Essex declared a major incident in response to "significant growing demand" on hospitals across the county.

Mr Jenkin told the Commons that Essex also wanted the military’s help with the rollout of vaccines and testing in schools.

Matt Hancock, speaking after announcing new tier 4 areas in England, told parliament that he would “of course look favourably on any request for military assistance”. 

The health secretary assured Mr Jenkin he would “work closely with [defence secretary Ben Wallace], who has been incredibly supportive as have the whole armed forces during this whole year”.

The plea for help comes after it emerged Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex, was having to treat Covid patients in ambulances outside before admitting them.

The Essex Resilience Forum (ERF) – a group made up of members of the NHS, emergency services and local authorities – said declaring a major incident would enable local leaders to seek further support from the government should they need it. 

Essex County Council declined to specifically confirm the request for military help but told The Independent what Mr Jenkin had said in the Commons was “not far off the mark”.

“In declaring a major incident, areas are required to request special and extra assistance,” a spokesperson added. 

It was revealed by the ERF that the number of patients receiving treatment for coronavirus in Essex had increased to levels far above those seen in the virus’ first wave, similar to the situations playing out in London hospitals and indeed across the entire UK. 

More than 20,000 Covid patients were in hospitals in England on Monday and Tuesday – up from an April peak of 18,974.

While all of Essex is currently in tier 4, the ERF also said that that figures in the county were expected to continue “rising in the coming days” and that cases were particularly high in Mid and South Essex, where the NHS Trust there has placed its three hospitals on critical alert.

Major incidents have also been declared in London hospitals following a rise in cases also thought to be the result of the new highly infectious variant of coronavirus. 

“Declaring a major incident enables us to seek further support from the government to address the severe pressures which the health system is under because of Covid-19,” the chief constable of Essex Police and ERF co-chair, BJ Harrington, said on Tuesday.

“The people of Essex have been magnificent and are only dialling 999 or attending A&E in an emergency – we need this to continue because this will help protect the very limited capacity available at our hospitals.”