the bbc was invited in to altnagelvin hospital to highlight the pressures on all aspects of care., the scale of the challenges are laid bare. but there's no real signs that the pressures are going off. 0nly last week, the number of positive cases was so high, derry and strabane was considered one of the uk's hotspots. but as a result of the local restrictions imposed, the bbc can now reveal that the cases of covid—19 have dropped by almost a half. i'd like to say thank you because, er, we are all in this together. if all of us are not in together, there will be lives which will be lost. and you can see it that as soon as the lockdown happened, the hospital admissions did come down. that does not mean we are out of the woods. so, for now, those working the front line in altnagelvin can cope. the hope is that will continue in the weeks ahead. marie—louise connolly, bbc news. the goverment says it's too early to say what covid rules will be in place by christmas, as it comes under mounting pressure for more clarity in the run—up to the festive period. ministers in england have sugges

the bbc was invited in to altnagelvin hospital to highlight the pressures on all aspects of care.sures are going off. 0nly last week, the number of positive cases was so high, derry and strabane was considered one of the uk's hotspots. but as a result of the local restrictions imposed, the bbc can now reveal that the cases of covid—19 have dropped by almost a half. i'd like to say thank you because, er, we are all in this together. if all of us are not in together, there will be lives which will be lost. and you can see it that as soon as the lockdown happened, the hospital admissions did come down. that does not mean we are out of the woods. so, for now, those working the front line in altnagelvin can cope. the hope is that will continue in the weeks ahead. marie—louise connolly, bbc news. now, one man's good news story. after 4 months in an induced coma and a staggering 209 days in hospital, esse khanzadeh from greater manchester has come out of hospital after battling coronavirus. he says it's good to be out to see his family and breathe fresh air as alison freeman reports. app

sandra is one of 20 seriously ill patients in this covid ward at altnagelvin hospital. r condition worsened eight days after testing positive. i thought i was going to die. that's how bad i was. the hospital, doctors and nurses, work round—the—clock to try and save you. that's what they done with me. but new daily infections in the area have dropped by nearly half. doctors say the imposition of tough local restrictions three weeks ago was a major factor. we are all in this together. if all of us are not in together, there will be lives which will be lost, and you can see it that as soon as the lockdown happened the hospital admissions did come down. as northern ireland assesses its widespread restrictions, there's renewed debate about whether a further tightening of the rules in england is required, with expert government advisers warning that the uk's covid numbers will get worse. things do look very serious indeed. i mean, i've been looking at the deaths. we had a very large number reported yesterday, but they're going over 150 a day and doubling every two to three wee

sandra is one of 20 seriously ill patients in this covid ward at altnagelvin hospital. n worsened eight days after testing positive. i thought i was going to die. that's how bad i was. the hospital, doctors and nurses, work round—the—clock to try and save you. that's what they done with me. but new daily infections in the area have dropped by nearly half. doctors say the imposition of tough local restrictions three weeks ago was a major factor. we are all in this together. if all of us are not in together, there will be lives which will be lost, and you can see that as soon as the lockdown happened the hospital admissions did come down. as northern ireland assesses its widespread restrictions, there is renewed debate about whether a further tightening of the rules in england is required, with expert government advisers warning that the uk's covid numbers will get worse. things do look very serious indeed. i mean, i have been looking at the deaths, we had a very large number reported yesterday but they are going over 150 a day, and doubling every two to three weeks, and t