Number of Covid patients in English hospitals up 30% in a week

Latest figures from NHS England show that 4,401 hospital beds were occupied by confirmed Covid-19 cases on Friday, the highest level since March 22.

This is a week-on-week rise of 30.7% from the 3,367 people in hospital on July 16.

But the numbers are still much lower than the peak of the second wave when patient levels in England reached 34,336 on January 18.

The North East and Yorkshire had the highest number of beds occupied with Covid patients on Friday, at 1,026.

The NHS England data also showed that Covid hospital admissions rose 23% week-on-week from 636 on July 14 to 783 on July 21.

The total includes 215 in the North East England and Yorkshire, up 17% week-on-week and the highest daily number for the region since February 16.

Total admissions for England are still some way below the peak of the second wave when they hit 4,134 on January 12.

But the figures reflect how the third wave of coronavirus is continuing to drive a slow but steady rise in hospital admissions.

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