The number of coronavirus patients in Norfolk hospital beds has soared by 20pc to 430 in the last week.
In the east of England as a whole there were 3,111 Covid patients in hospitals as of Wednesday December 30 - up from 2,085 the previous week.
While much attention has been on under-pressure London hospitals, the number of Covid patients in hospital rose just as fast in the east between December 23 and December 30 at 50pc.
On Monday December 28, a record 318 new patients were admitted to hospitals. To put that into context, the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston has 500 beds in total for all treatments.
The area includes Essex which has been particularly badly hit by the new, mutant strain of the virus.
In Norfolk’s three hospitals there were 131 Covid patients being treated at the start of December. But three weeks later - by December 21 - that had more than trebled to 353. The latest figure given by the county council on Thursday was 430, an increase in a week of almost 20pc.
According to national NHS bed occupancy figures, as of December 29, there were 168 patients with Covid-19 being treated at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, 159 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital at King's Lynn and 50 at the James Paget.
Erika Denton, NNUH medical director, said: “We are extremely concerned by the rising Covid-19 infection rates and hospital admissions in the region and would urge everyone to redouble their efforts and follow the national guidance.
"It is more important than ever for people to socially distance from others, wear face masks when needed and maintain regular and thorough hand washing.
“We have plans to increase capacity to treat our sickest patients, which includes two designated surge wards and the third floor of the new ward block.
"The highly specialised negative pressure isolation unit (NPIU) is on standby to be used to treat vulnerable patients.”
In a sign of the pressure, a message was sent to hospital staff on Thursday asking them to work shifts in critical care on Friday and Saturday night.
"We are urgently seeking assistance," the message said, adding that no experience in critical care was necessary.
Norfolk's director of public health, Dr Louise Smith, said: “The increasing number of cases is across all ages and we know around one in three people who have Covid-19 don’t have any symptoms, but can still pass it on, so the steps we take now are critical."
Sarah Jones, from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said: “We have tried and tested measures in place to help us manage winter pressures and demand, but we are expecting a very busy bank holiday weekend."
The pressures elsewhere in the country have also seen the region’s NHS called on to help.
Staff at the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) were diverted to the London Ambulance Service this week.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here