A MAJOR incident has been declared for the whole of Essex due to the strain coronavirus is putting on the county's health services.

On Tuesday the number of patients in Essex receiving treatment for coronavirus exceeded those seen at the peak of the first wave of the virus in the spring.

In response to the massive growth in demand on hospitals, particularly in mid and south Essex, the Essex Resilience Forum (ERF) has declared a "major incident".

This means the county can seek further financial support from the Government in a bid to help ease the pressure on the NHS.

Read more >>> Coronavirus: Essex major incident - latest updates

The ERF, which consists of the NHS, blue light responders and local authorities, says pressures are being felt primarily in NHS and local authority services and are associated with critical care and bed capacity, staff sickness or self-isolation levels and the system’s ability to discharge patients quickly into safe environments.

The ERF is predicting these patient levels will increase further in the coming days and is even looking at sending patients out of county to hospitals where there is further capacity.

Anthony McKeever, executive lead for Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership, said: “We are taking every action possible within the NHS and across the wider health and social care partnerships in Essex to limit the impact on the NHS and the wider health system.

“This involves using critical care capacity elsewhere in Essex and the eastern region and identifying additional locations and capacity to assist with the discharging of patients to reduce pressure on hospitals.

“Our strong working relationships mean we are able to respond effectively to support our local communities.

“I would also like to pay tribute to all those hard-working colleagues who are working tirelessly to support our communities across the system.

"They are all doing an amazing job in extremely difficult circumstances.”

Chief Constable of Essex Police and Co-Chair of the Essex Local Resilience Forum BJ Harrington added: “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 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.

"Please stay safe; work from home if possible, follow the social distancing rules, and only travel if absolutely necessary.”