Scotland goes ten days without new ICU virus patients
Scotland has seen a period of at least ten days this month where no new coronavirus patients were admitted to intensive care.
The number of Covid-19 cases being treated in ICU in total since the outbreak remained the same between 3 May and 13 May, according to official figures.
No new cases in the specialist clinics had been reported until yesterday afternoon when one person is understood to have been admitted to ICU with the virus.
The figures were released in a document by Public Health Scotland that contains two reports on the pandemic.
In the health body’s first report, it says “as of 3 May”, 495 confirmed Covid-19 patients had been admitted to ICUS.
The second report states the 495 figure remains unchanged “as of 10 May” and no new cases were reported until yesterday during First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s daily press briefing.
Although some patients “suspected” of having the virus were brought into intensive care during this time between the two reports being published, they subsequently tested negative.
The confirmation came as Scotland’s death toll surpassed 2,000 for the first time. A total of 2,007 patients have died, according to the Health Protection Scotland figures released yesterday, up by 34 from 1,973 on Wednesday.
Ms Sturgeon said yesterday 14,117 people had tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 188 from 13,929 the day before. There are 71 people in intensive care with coronavirus or coronavirus symptoms, an increase of one on Wednesday, and 1,480 people are in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a decrease of 54. The decline in coronavirus cases and deaths across the country is likely to put pressure on the Scottish Government to resume NHS services.
Charities have called for an urgent plan to safely restart cancer services.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said earlier this week that a strategy was needed to deal with the backlog in treatment and operations.
Since the pandemic, important medical procedures have been stopped, including breast, cervical, bowel and other cancer screening programmes.
Elective surgery has also been stalled to free up space for Covid-19 patients in hospitals and Scotland’s chief medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith said the country had seen a 72 per cent reduction in urgent suspected cancer referrals by doctors.
Cases in intensive care peaked in Scotland on 29 March when 28 patients diagnosed with the virus were admitted on a single day – a week after the country went into lockdown.
Since 6 April, new admissions have been falling gradually with no new patients being admitted for at least ten days in May.
The groups with the highest number of admissions included those aged 60 to 69, males and those living in socially deprived areas, according to a report done by the Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group that covers a period up to 2 May. It says 72 per cent of those admitted to ICU were male and 28 per cent were female.