BBC has donated fully functional ventilators, from the sets of its medical drama series 'Holby City', to the newly constructed NHS Nightingale Hospital, in London. The NHS Nightingale hospital is the first emergency field hospital in the country, to treat coronavirus patients.
In a tweet, BBC studios announced that fully-operational ventilators from the 'Holby City' set, had arrived at Nightingale hospital, situated at east London's ExCel centre. A picture of the equipment being unloaded from the van was shared, along with in the tweet.
BBC's 'Holby City' donates ventilators to NHS Nightingale hospital
"We are only too happy to help out and do what we can for the courageous and selfless real-life medics," said Holby City's executive producer Simon Harper. However, it isn't clear how many ventilators were donated or why were functional ventilators were used on the set.
Ventilators provide mechanical ventilation to patients, who are unable to breathe or breathe insufficiently. Novel coronavirus is a deadly contagion that chiefly attacks the lungs, making it difficult for them to breathe. Along with fever and cough, shortness of breath is another symptom of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
'Holby City' -- a medical drama series, based in a fictional West Country city, has paused production, BBC reported. Last month, 'Holby City' and BBC's another drama series announced that they would donate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other equipment, from their set, to the National Health Service (NHS).
London's Nightingale Hospital
The hospital that can hold 4,000 patients is the first temporary emergency hospital to treat COVID-19 patients. It was built in the record time of nine days. Similar Nightingale hospitals are in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Harrogate, with two more announced on Wearside and in Exeter.
Authorities stepped up their efforts in fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic after its epicentre shifted from China to Europe. Italy remains the hardest-hit European nation, in terms of the number of fatalities, recording 147,577 cases and 18,849 deaths. UK has reported 73,758 cases and 8,958 fatalities, as on April 11.
