Labour shadow cabinet minister Jo Stevens in hospital with Covid-19

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweets ‘Get well soon Jo’ message 
Labour MP Jo Stevens was said to have been“laid low with Covid for a while’
PA

Shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens is being treated for coronavirus in hospital, her team has said.

The Labour MP for Cardiff Central was said to have been “laid low with Covid for a while”.

On Saturday, the 54-year-old’s team tweeted: “Jo has asked us to let you know that she is being treated in hospital for Covid. Thanks for all your good wishes we will give an update when we can.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer replied to the tweet, saying: “Get well soon Jo, a dear friend and colleague.”

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “All of our thoughts and best wishes are with Jo for a speedy recovery.

“Thank you to Jo’s constituency team for continuing to support Cardiff Central constituents at this difficult time.”

Her condition comes amid fears over the spread of the new strain of Covid-19.

Confirmed cases were higher than 50,000 for the fifth day in a row when UK figures were released on Saturday with a record-high of 57,725 lab-confirmed cases and another 445 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Hundreds of new vaccination sites are due to be up and running this week as the NHS ramps up its immunisation programme with the newly approved Oxford University and AstraZeneca jab.

Some 530,000 doses of the vaccine will be available for rollout across the UK from Monday and more than a million patients have already had their first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which was the first to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Health professionals have warned of growing pressure on services with Professor Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians, telling the BBC current case figures are “fairly mild” compared to what is expected in a week’s time.

Dr Shondipon Laha, an intensive care consultant in Lancashire, told the Sunday Telegraph: “The situation in hospitals is dire in London, but the situation around the country is only a few weeks behind and London is not at its peak yet.

“If you start seeing London overwhelmed it can happen everywhere else quickly.”

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