Covid patients in Sheffield hospitals now over 100 - and admissions are still rising

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals has revealed it is now treating over 100 patients with Covid-19, and nine of those are in critical care.

As levels of COVID-19 cases in the city and wider South Yorkshire region continue to rise, Sheffield health chiefs have urged people not to drop their guard against COVID-19.

Each day for the past few weeks, the number of hospital admissions has been in double figures and whilst patients are not staying in hospital as long, the number is growing overall, with many patients younger and unvaccinated.

The trust expects to see a further rise in hospital admissions across the city, as data suggests levels of the virus will be high for months to come.

Patients, visitors and staff in its hospitals are being asked to continue wearing masks and sanitise their hands while in any of the premises, despite the lifting of national restrictions.

Professor Chris Morley, chief nurse, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It is great that we can all start to enjoy some more freedom in our everyday lives, but in Sheffield and South Yorkshire Covid cases are still incredibly high, and we are seeing this with the number of people once again being admitted to our hospitals. This time there is a real spread in the age of people being admitted, they are not all older people, and many patients are also not vaccinated.

“We are urging everyone to still take precautions to prevent getting or transmitting this awful virus which is still very prevalent in our communities and social settings."

He added: "Simple hand washing, keeping your distance, increasing ventilation e.g. by opening windows and wearing a mask in indoor spaces, can all help limit the spread.

“Get tested as soon as you feel you have any symptoms, and most of all, please get vaccinated. Being vaccinated will greatly reduce the chances of you becoming really sick and needing our care. This in turn, means we will have more staff and beds available to catch up the non-COVID care, which was paused for several months during the earlier part of the pandemic.

“Our teams are really going the extra mile to see people as quickly as possible, and we are doing well, but we need to keep our services, staff and patients as free of COVID as we can to continue to do that.

"That is why we are still asking people to wear a mask, wash their hands and keep their distance from others and to not attend or visit if they have any symptoms or have someone in their household who is positive or has symptoms. We also have extremely vulnerable patients in our care who we have a duty to protect by limiting the opportunities for the virus to spread in our buildings or to our staff.

“The most recent data suggests that we will have high levels of the virus with us for some months to come and can expect to see a further rise in hospital admissions which means we all have to remain vigilant in our day to day activities to limit the spread. Our patients, visitors and communities have been hugely supportive over the past year, and we need that support to continue while we still have such a high prevalence of COVID-19 in our city.”