Some 50 extra ambulance staff from other counties have been redeployed to Kent, as pressure caused by Covid-19 mounts on health services.

A tweet from Danny Hughes, a paramedic with the South East Coast Ambulance Service said he was one of 50 members of staff from Sussex and Surrey who volunteered to work away from home "to provide additional ambulances to support" their colleagues in Kent.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said the additional staff were part of the contingency preparation plans for the end of the EU transition period.

He said: "However, given the current situation, the crews have increased our resilience as we continue to face significant pressure across our whole region relating to the pandemic."

This comes as health services in Kent are under increasing pressure caused by a new strain of Covid-19 which is more infectious.

Last week it was reported the NHS in Kent and Medway had twice the number of Covid-positive patients receiving care in its hospitals than it did during the first wave of the pandemic.

Seriously ill coronavirus patients also have been transferred as far as 250 miles away for treatment due to a shortage of critical care beds in Kent.

Yesterday, infection rates in Kent looked set to reach a pandemic high after new case numbers hit record levels four days after Christmas.

The spokesman for the ambulance service added: "We are very proud of the way our staff and volunteers are supporting each other and would like to thank them for their ongoing efforts.

"Our crews continue to work closely to support each other across our county borders to ensure we are as best placed to meet patient demand.

"We ask for the public’s continued support and urge them only calling 999 in the event of a serious or life-threatening emergency."

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