On the first day of national lockdown, MP for Nottingham East Nadia Whittome met with Nottingham City Hospital to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the city. They talked about hospital capacity, the support required from the government and the public health messaging that is needed to ensure the effectiveness of the new restrictions.

To date there have been over 10,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus across Nottingham, most of them under the age of 30. Since the start of the pandemic, more than 1,000 people in Nottinghamshire have died after contracting the virus. 
Nadia Whittome said:

I would like to thank Nottingham City Hospital staff for their hard work throughout this crisis. Our city has been badly hit by the pandemic but our invaluable NHS workers have been doing their best to save lives and protect the health of Nottingham residents.

Because of the government’s mismanagement of the pandemic, a national lockdown is absolutely necessary to protect our NHS and ensure that no patient is turned away. I am disappointed that it has taken ministers this long to act, and that so many people in our city have already lost their loved ones. I urge everyone to closely follow social distancing rules so that we can defeat the virus as soon as possible.

Even before the pandemic, Nottingham’s hospitals were seriously underfunded. I will fight to secure a portion of the government’s £1 billion fund to future-proof NHS services in our city.

Last month, Nadia Whittome spoke in parliament criticising the government’s handling of the pandemic and the failure to implement tougher restrictions sooner. In her speech, she said: we needed immediate action from the government but instead all we got was confusion and delay.

On Thursday November 5 at 7pm, Ms Whittome also held an online Q&A for constituents about lockdown measures and support available, with a range of local experts and advocates.