The NHS has struck a deal with private hospitals to acquire thousands of extra beds, ventilators and medical staff to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
An extra 8,000 hospital beds across England, nearly 1,200 ventilators and almost 20,000 fully qualified staff will be available.
In addition 3 new temporary hospitals will be commissioned with the first open in the next week or so at the London ExCel Centre. This NHS Nightingale Hospital will comprise two wards and the ability to hold up to 4,000 patients with 500 beds initially available.
The new Birmingham hospital is being built within the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and another at Manchester’s Central Convention Centre which will become the new NHS coronavirus treatment hospital in the north of England. The Midlands venue could hold up to 5,000 beds if required, while the GMEX in Manchester is thought to hold as many as 1,000. More will follow and the Head of the NHS said that across England there are now 33,000 hospital beds available to treat coronavirus patients.
The NHS has launched a Coronavirus test drive-thru for NHS staff at the Chessington World of Adventures in Greater London theme park. The health workers, who remain in their cars, are tested by nurses who carry out swabs from the nose and mouth through car windows.
In addition NHS workers can also now be tested for coronavirus at a new drive-through testing centre at the Boots headquarters in Beeston, Nottingham.
Last words to Bob Weighton, the world's oldest man who lives in the UK and who lived through the Spanish flu pandemic which decimated the world’s population when he was ten. He will celebrate his 112th birthday in isolation due to the coronavirus. “Everything is cancelled, no visitors, no celebration. It’s a dead loss as far as celebration is concerned,” Bob said.
Stay safe
Jackie
Ibrutinib victory 
LLR response to the proposed cuts sorry Bloodwise 
