THE number of intensive care beds in Scotland should be doubled to help the NHS cope with a surge in critically ill coronavirus patients, the Health Secretary has said. Jeane Freeman said there are also plans to train non-intensive care staff to take on extra duties as demand increases, and warned that the infection is likely to claim many lives.
It comes as the Chancellor prepares to unveil a multi-billion package today to help businesses manage the coronavirus crisis, with England's deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries warning that the UK's peak epidemic stage will begin in around two weeks' time when "many thousands" will be infected.
The number of confirmed cases in Scotland of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, has reached 27 with a sixth death now recorded in the UK.
The man, who was in his 80s and had underlying health conditions, died on Monday night in Watford General Hospital in Hertfordshire. He had picked up the infection within the UK.
To date, 373 people in the UK have tested positive for the virus.
Briefing MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, Ms Freeman said increasing intensive care capacity and "flattening the peak" in coronavirus cases so that they were spread out over a longer period would be vital to easing pressure on the NHS.
She said: "Part of the work we're undertaking is in terms of looking at bed capacity across the whole estate and doubling our intensive care beds, and ensuring we have the right trained staff and the right equipment in order to be able to do that.
"We will continue to look at what more can we do to maximise our capacity to respond to this. At the same time, we're taking the action to flatten that peak so that we give ourselves the best possible chance to do so.
"All of us need
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