Number of covid patient-occupied hospital beds in Nottinghamshire falls

The number of patients being treated in Covid-19-occupied beds in Nottinghamshire’s hospitals has fallen below the virus's peak last spring.
Jonathan Gribbin,  director for public health in Nottinghamshire.Jonathan Gribbin,  director for public health in Nottinghamshire.
Jonathan Gribbin, director for public health in Nottinghamshire.

Dr John Brewin, chief executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare, told a media briefing on Friday that admissions to hospitals were 83 compared to 153 the week before.

The figures do not include Worksop.

He also revealed the number of Covid-occupied beds had reduced from 466 to 274 and the number off deaths had fallen.

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"There is still massive pressure on the hospital system as the rates come down, but for the first time since last October we have less people in our beds since the first peak in April — so still a huge amount going on but there is a sense of the pressure easing across the acute hospitals in the count,” he said.

The county’s R rate – which measures the disease's ability to spread – was now under one and all districts and boroughs had seen cases fall, although were still considered to be ‘very high’.

Dr Brewin said it was ‘good news’ that 370,000 vaccines had been carried out, with people aged 55 and over now being urged to book appointments.

He said there had been a slight lull in jabs this week due to a national shortage but the county ‘was back on track’ to ‘increase our weekly number of vaccines from 40,000 to 80,000’.

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"A significant number of those 80,000 will also be second doses, which adds another level of complexity into the programme itself, but we'll be doing those as proscribed on the 11th and 12th weeks, so those numbers will increase significantly over the coming weeks,” he said.

Jonathan Gribbin director of Public Health for Nottinghamshire, told journalists that more than 30,000 asymptomatic tests had now been carried out – saying it was ‘part of our national ambition to make twice-weekly testing part of our routine’.

He also urged people to to resist the temptation of spending time visiting their mums on Mother’s Day this Sunday.

“Some might not be able to meet their mum this year, some will have lost their mum, but if she is the one person you meet, do it outdoors, communicate love to your mum, not Covid, please,” he said.

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