Hospitals in England asked to look for up to 4,000 emergency Covid beds

NHS on war footing' as small-scale Nightingale' facilities being created at eight sites

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Hospitals have been asked to identify sites for up to 4,000 emergency beds to deal with a potential wave of Omicron admissions in England, as cases hit a record 183,000.

On Wednesday, more than 10,000 patients were in hospital with Covid, a figure not reached since March.