Record number in city hospitals with coronavirus

THERE are now more coronavirus patients in Bristol’s hospitals at the height of the first wave.

Figures published by NHS England reveal how many beds at both of the city’s hospital trusts were taken up by coronavirus patients last week.

On November 10, the most recent day for which data is public, exactly 200 beds were occupied by people sick with Covid-19.

This is more than there were on any one day during the first wave of the virus, although the accumulative comparison is as yet unclear.

It comes as Bristol City Council puts the latest coronavirus hospital patient number at 230, as of Tuesday, suggesting the number has continued to rise since last week.

At North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Southmead Hospital, 111 beds were occupied by coronavirus patients on November 10.

This was a record number, even compared to the first wave, and is in line with the regional picture.

Previously, the most beds taken up by Covid patients at the trust on any one day had been 108, which was on April 7.

The figure for November 10 was up significantly from 67 just a few days earlier, on November 1.

Meanwhile at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, which runs health facilities including Bristol Royal Infirmary, there were 89 coronavirus patients in its beds as of November 10.

This figure had doubled in a matter of days, up from 45 on November 2 – barely a week earlier.

It is also verging on the highest number seen during the first peak of the virus, according to NHS England’s daily figures dating all the way back to March.