The “absolutely terrifying” impact of coronavirus admissions on Northern hospitals has been revealed, after leaked NHS data reportedly shows more than 6,000 patients are being treated across England.
As of Thursday, almost 6,100 patients were in hospital with Covid-19 across the country, 4,670 were receiving oxygen and 563 were on ventilators, according to the data. This comes as figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the death rate for coronavirus patients has increased in England for the time since the peak of the outbreak in April.
Hospitals in the North of England are bearing the brunt of cases, the NHS data shows, with more than a quarter of Liverpool University Hospital Trust beds occupied by Covid-19 patients. In Lancashire and South Cumbria, one in seven hospital beds were occupied by people suffering from coronavirus, and in the North East and Yorkshire almost one in 10, 1,531, patients were in hospital with the virus.
The NHS data was obtained through an investigation by the Health Service Journal and The Independent. Across Manchester hospitals, the data showed 11 per cent of the region’s beds are occupied with Covid-19 patients. One of the region’s intensive care doctors told The Independent the figures were “absolutely terrifying”. An NHS England spokesperson said: “Coronavirus cases and hospital admissions are rising and so it is vital everyone does what they can to control the virus, particularly by following government guidelines.
“Social distancing is the first line of defence, followed by the test and trace programme, but if infection still then spreads, the NHS has no choice but to activate local and regional escalation plans.”
English