Number of Covid patients in hospital in Cornwall 'soars' in space of three months
The number of coronavirus cases across the Duchy has been rising too
New figures show that the number of coronavirus patients in hospital in Cornwall has soared over the last three months.
NHS England data shows 22 people were being cared for in hospital by the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust on Tuesday, August 17th.
The number of beds at the trust occupied by people who tested positive for Covid-19 increased 11-fold, from two on May 18 – the day after pubs and restaurants were allowed to seat customers inside and the cap on outdoor gatherings was raised to 30 people.
Last month the fourth and last step of the Government's roadmap was also reached, when capacity limits for venues and events were scrapped and social distancing rules ended.
The figures show the number of people being treated in hospital for Covid on August 17 was up from 17 on the same day the previous week.
They also show that 27 new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in the week to August 15 – an increase from 26 the previous seven days.
Across England there were 5,437 people in hospital with Covid as of August 17, with 825 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.
The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally has increased more than seven-fold since May 18 and is 40% higher than it was four weeks ago, when 3,894 people were in hospital with the virus.
As of Monday (23rd August) public health officials in Cornwall confirmed that were around 30 patients with coronavirus being cared for in hospitals in Cornwall.
Some of those patients are in their thirties and 60% are unvaccinated.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, has urged people not to delay getting their Covid-19 vaccine, warning there were some “very sick” young adults in hospital with the virus.
His comments came as separate figures from Public Health England showed that 55% of people in hospital with the Delta variant – which is dominant in the UK – have not been jabbed.
Of the coronavirus patients aged under 50, 74% had not received a vaccination, while almost two-thirds of people who died were not jabbed.
Prof Whitty said: “The great majority of adults have been vaccinated.
“Four weeks working on a Covid ward makes stark the reality that the majority of our hospitalised Covid patients are unvaccinated and regret delaying.
"Some are very sick, including young adults.
“Please don’t delay your vaccine.”
The UK’s vaccine programme has so far seen around three-quarters of adults in the UK double-jabbed.
You can find the source data here.