Scottish Covid-19 infection levels ‘scrutinised intensely’ as cases continue to rise
SCOTLAND’S record Covid infection levels and the increasing numbers of people in hospital with the virus are being “scrutinised intensely”, the country’s chief medical officer has said.
Professor Sir Gregor Smith spoke out after the data from the Office for National Statistics showed that in the first week of March, an estimated one in 18 Scots had the virus.
Meanwhile, the most recent daily figures showed 1,663 people were in hospital yesterday with recently confirmed Covid-19, with the number of people in hospital at its highest for 13 months.
The chief medical officer said there was “understandable interest/ apprehension about rising case rates and hospital occupancy in Scotland” but he insisted that the situation “continues to be intensely monitored and assessed”.
Posting on Twitter, the leading medic explained that Covid rates were “increasing across all age groups”, with this driven by rising numbers of the Omicron BA-2 sub-type, which is now dominant.
He added there was “no evidence” this variant was associated with more severe disease than previous forms.
With hospital numbers increasing, especially among those aged over 60, Sir Gregor conceded there were “immense” pressures on NHS staff.
But he added that “we’re not seeing the same volume of severe disease as before”, with the number of people in intensive care “very low and stable”.
Sir Gregor described this as “very encouraging”. His comments came as bosses at NHS Lanarkshire said hospitals there were “working beyond maximum capacity”. The health board has reintroduced essential visiting only at its hospitals, with people also being urged to stay away from A&E, where some are having to wait more than 10 hours. He tweeted: “Hospital occupancy with + C19 test is increasing, esp in >60s; some of this is direct C19 disease, some reflects background rates community transmission & some due to longer lengths of stay. All contribute to increased healthcare pressures which are immense for colleagues. However, admissions have not risen as sharply as occupancy and we’re not seeing same volume of severe disease as before; ICU admissions are v low & stable.
“At this point, this is very encouraging & there is no signal on excess deaths data.
“This is all scrutinised intensely.”