Covid cases at hospital plunge to just two
THE number of patients with Covid at the Derby and Burton NHS trust has fallen dramatically.
There are now only two patients who have tested positive for coronavirus being treated at Queen’s Hospital in Burton, both of whom are seriously ill in the intensive care unit (ICU).
At the Royal Derby Hospital, there are seven patients with the virus, three of whom are in ICU.
There were around 30 people with Covid being treated at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB) NHS Foundation Trust at the end of March.
At the height of the second wave of the pandemic in early December, there were nearly 300.
It comes as the number of patients in hospital in England with Covid-19 has dropped to its lowest level for seven months, figures show. A total of 1,310 patients were in hospital at 8am on April 27, according to figures from NHS England. This is the lowest since 1,299 on September 21, and is down 96% from a record 34,336 on January 18.
Patient numbers in the Midlands have fallen 96%, with London among areas that have seen a drop of 95%.
Hospital admissions of patients with Covid-19 are also back to levels last seen in mid-september.
A total of 107 admissions were reported for April 25, NHS England said. This is down 97% from the peak on January 12.
The fall in patients and admissions reflects the combined impact of the lockdown and vaccines in helping reduce the number of infections that need hospital treatment.
However, as the Derby and Burton trust has acknowledged, the situation is vast different in India, where many hospitals treating Covid patients have run out of beds and oxygen for ventilators.
UHDB chief executive Gavin Boyle said: “There have been four really big events across the globe this week and although we may be tucked away in a small but beautiful part of the Midlands, the repercussions do reach us quite quickly.
“Although our numbers of Covid19-positive patients are now very low, on some days in single figures, this isn’t the case in other parts of the world.
“One of the countries severely affected is India, which has just been added to the list of countries that now have travel restrictions.
“Many of my colleagues from the subcontinent will have family there and many have planned a trip to see them this year.
“I know this is a difficult time for these staff and I hope they get to see their close families soon.”
■ It is “probably just a matter of time” before cases of the Indian Covid-19 variant are detected in Derbyshire, the county’s public health chief says.
Dean Wallace, public health director for Derbyshire County Council, made the comments after it was revealed that three cases of the potentially more infectious Indian variant had been detected in nearby Leicester.