Coronavirus hospital admissions have fallen to below one per day in Wakefield

Hospital admissions of patients with Covid-19 have now fallen to below one per day in Wakefield.
id Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust chief executive Martin Barkley.id Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust chief executive Martin Barkley.
id Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust chief executive Martin Barkley.

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, which runs Pinderfields Hospital in the city, said it was treating “between three and four” new in-patients a week for coronavirus.

The trust also runs Pontefract Hospital, but all local people who needed treatment for the virus have been cared for at Pinderfields throughout the pandemic.

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A peak of 170 patients were being treated in a quarantined ward at Pinderfields when the virus was at its height in April.

That number has gradually fallen since and now stands at “between eight and 10” at any one time, the NHS says.

The trust’s chief executive Martin Barkley said local hospitals were now able to concentrate more on routine patient care than they were able to previously. But he warned there may be more challenges for the NHS next winter, as other flu and virus bugs may be confused for coronavirus.
Speaking at a meeting of the trust board, Mr Barkley said: “We’re probably now taking three or four new in-patients every week who have tested positive for coronavirus.

“That’s less than one new patient per day, which is absolutely great news. The key priority for us now is to get on with non-Covid work.”

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He added: “Life is probably going to get pretty complicated when the usual viruses emerge in late autumn and early winter.

“Differentiating those from Covid is going to be difficult.

Figures released by Mid Yorkshire showed that as of July 1, 338 staff were still off work with Covid-related absences.

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