Britain could be worse hit than Italy by the coronavirus outbreak because of how its national health system works, a senior doctor of an emergency ward has warned.
The doctor, who did not want to give his name, told Britain's Sky News that the state-run health system in Britain could be "completely swamped" by demand.
Britain had suffered 177 deaths due to Covid-19 as of late Friday, with the number of confirmed infections rising to 3,983. Government health experts say tens of thousands of British people are probably infected.
Italy's coronavirus crisis is the world's deadliest, with more than 4,000 fatalities.
"I'm aware of the Italian system, and I think in quite a few ways they are in advance of us in terms of resources and the intensive care beds they had available prior to this occurring," the British doctor said.
"So I think we may actually end up in a worse state than they presently are unless we take sufficient measures right now."
The British government is trying to source thousands more ventilators. But, asked if he had enough resources, the doctor said: "In terms of what we're anticipating, the honest truth is no. The NHS [National Health Service] isn't currently set up to ventilate a huge number of people.
"We know what's coming, and we know what's coming is extremely big."
The doctor also rejected assertions that, for many people, the coronavirus only leads to mild symptoms. He said people were coming in with "full-blown, really nasty pneumonia."
