Coronavirus: NHS asks public to stop sending rainbow pictures to new Nightingale Hospital
Written by News on 02/04/2020
The NHS has asked the public to stop sending pictures of rainbows in the post to the new Nightingale London Hospital which has been built for coronavirus patients.
The hospital said a “fake” Facebook account had been set up which was urging people to share their rainbow pictures.
In a tweet, the official NHS Nightingale London account asked people to instead share their artwork digitally using #RainbowsForNightingale.
It said: “Unfortunately, a fake Facebook account has been set up for the Nightingale Hospital London asking people to share rainbow pictures. Please be aware of misinformation and only get your information from trusted sources.”
The hospital added: “We love that so many of you have shared your amazing rainbow pictures, but please don’t send them in the post. We’re working on a way to receive them, but for now please share using #RainbowsForNightingale.”
Children across the country have been putting up rainbow pictures in windows to bring smiles to passers-by during the coronavirus outbreak.
The trend has been seen across the world but became hugely popular in the UK after schools closed two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, it emerged this week that more than 16,000 members of staff could be needed to run the Nightingale Hospital to treat patients infected with COVID-19.
The new 4,000-bed temporary facility at the ExCel convention centre in east London is due to open this week and is split into more than 80 wards containing 42 beds each.
The facility will be used to treat patients who have been transferred from other intensive care units (ICU) across London.
The hospital’s chief operating officer Natalie said a “scary” number of staff would be needed to run the facility at full capacity and appealed for volunteers to come forward.
She added: “If we have to use this facility, which I really hope we don’t because everyone is staying home and washing their hands and social distancing, we will need thousands of doctors and nurses and volunteers to run this facility,” she said.
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As of Thursday, a further 569 people have died in the UK after contracting coronavirus – bringing the total number of deaths to 2,921.
The number is slightly higher than the 563 people who died with COVID-19 on Wednesday.
(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: NHS asks public to stop sending rainbow pictures to new Nightingale Hospital
