Coronavirus cases rise in hospitals

IT has been more than four years since the coronavirus pandemic first resulted in Wales going into lockdown. A year into the pandemic, and as the vaccine started to roll out, it became evident that while we could beat the pandemic, the virus would be with us for years to come.

Since then, Covid has been treated as a seasonal virus, and often peaks around the same time as the winter flu virus. In March, it appeared that the winter peak had passed, with cases in Welsh hospitals drastically falling.

However, as we enter the month of May, cases in hospitals appear to be on the rise again. In the most recent data published by Public Health Wales, 53 people were admitted to hospital with coronavirus in the seven days up to May 5. In the seven days up to May 5, there was one admission to critical care.

This is around the same number of admissions that were being made in the month of February, following a peak of 113 admissions a week at the end of December. Just over two weeks ago, on the seven days leading up to April 20, 16 admissions were made, showing a dramatic rise in case admissions since then.

There has also been a rise in the number of people who were already in hospital picking up the virus. In the seven days up to May 5, some 66 people tested positive with hospital acquired coronavirus, compared with the seven days before April 14, where there were 23 positive cases of hospital acquired coronavirus.

The health board area with the highest amount of hospitalisations with Covid as of May 5, was Cardiff and Vale UHB, where there were 20 admissions in the seven days before that date. That was followed by Betsi Cadwaladr UHB, where there were 12 admissions.