NHS in England will move to it's highest state of emergency alert from midnight tonight. The health service is set to return to level 4 alert status at 00.01 on Wednesday in line with the beginning of the second national lockdown.
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the move to level four was in response to a "serious situation ahead" due to a rise in coronavirus patients needing intensive care.
The escalation comes as the health service reported that the number of inpatients seriously ill with coronavirus has rocketed from 2,000 at the end of September to almost 11,000.
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