The county is waking to the news this morning (Wednesday, 30 December) that a major incident has been declared in Essex.

This will mean the Government can be asked for help as local hospitals - including Broomfield - are in danger of being overwhelmed by the number of Covid-19 patients.

The Essex Resilience Forum (ERF) - which is formed from local health, hospital, council and police and emergency services - has made the move in reaction to the current Covid-19 crisis.

In a statement the ERF said: "In response to a significant growing demand on hospitals and health and social care services across Essex, and particularly Mid and South Essex due to coronavirus, the Essex Resilience Forum (ERF) has today (Tuesday 29th December) declared a 'major incident' – enabling the county to seek further support from Government to address the pressures."

The Mid and South Essex NHS Hospitals Trust - which runs Broomfield Hospital - put all three of its hospitals on critical alert yesterday and asked doctors and nurses on leave to return to work.

It has now emerged that some patients from the area are being sent to other hospitals to reduce the pressure.

Anthony McKeever, Executive Lead for the 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.

He added: "This involves using critical care capacity elsewhere in Essex and the Eastern region."

Chief Constable of Essex Police and Co-Chair of the Essex Local Resilience Forum, BJ Harrington, said:

"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."

On Monday, figures showed the number of patients being treated for Covid-19 across hospitals in England was at a record high of 20,426 - beating the previous peak of about 19,000 in April.

The latest government figures show there were 549 Covid patients at Southend, Basildon and Broomfield University hospitals - run by the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust - which is the highest total since the start of the pandemic.