Large number of fatal Covid cases infected in hospital

NEARLY a quarter of people who died with coronavirus in Wales were infected in hospital, it has been revealed.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request found there were 1,860 patient deaths up to May 1, 2021, where they “definitely” or “probably” caught the virus in hospital.

The figures were even worse in two health board areas, Hywel Dda and Swansea Bay University Health Boards, where one in three Covid deaths was due to hospital onset cases.

In response, the Welsh Government said each hospital death is being “thoroughly investigated”. The FOI request was carried out by Welshlanguage news programme Newyddion S4C.

Hospital-acquired infections were a significant problem during the pandemic in Wales, with hospitals in both the north and south of the country reporting significant outbreaks.

During the Welsh Government’s press briefing, NHS chief executive Dr Andrew Goodall said guidance around infection prevention and control has had to adapt to reduce transmission of the virus in hospital settings.

“If there is high community prevalence then inevitably we will see that in both hospital patients and in staff, which is why we are – even at this stage – continuing to retain all that protection,” he said.

“For any death that takes place [in hospital] there is an individual case review process which is there to make sure that there is an investigation around individual circumstances and that we learn lessons. We know that coronavirus finds any opportunity to exploit weaknesses in the system, even with the best clinical practice and infection prevention and control measures in place.”

Health boards define “definite” cases as those who tested positive more than 14 days after being admitted to hospital, whereas “probable” cases are when positive tests are collected between seven and 14 days after admission.

According to Public Health Wales, 5,578 people have died with coronavirus in Wales since the start of the pandemic, and the Delta variant has led to a third surge in infections. However, at present this is not translating into a huge rise in hospital admissions.