Covid patients in Sheffield's hospitals up by nearly a quarter, as 'stealth Omicron' strain spreads

The number of patients with Covid in Sheffield’s hospitals has risen significantly for the first time since mid-January, as the new ‘stealth Omicron’ strain spreads.
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The number of patients with Covid-19 being treated by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals increased by nearly a quarter in just four days, from 72 on March 4 to 88 on March 8, the latest date for which that information is available, according to the Government’s Coronavirus Dashboard.

The figures do not reveal how many of those patients are being treated primarily for Covid, or how seriously ill they are, but they do show that as of March 8, just one patient was in a mechanical ventilation bed, which is used to treat the most seriously-ill coronavirus patients.

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The number of patients with Covid being treated by staff at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals has started to rise for the first time since mid-January, latest figures revealThe number of patients with Covid being treated by staff at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals has started to rise for the first time since mid-January, latest figures reveal
The number of patients with Covid being treated by staff at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals has started to rise for the first time since mid-January, latest figures reveal
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The number of Covid patients being treated by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, which runs the Royal Hallamshire and Northern General hospitals, remains well below the level recorded earlier this year, when it peaked at 293 on January 17.

The increase in hospital admissions within Sheffield reflects a national trend, with the total number of Covid patients at hospitals across the UK having started to creep up, from 10,500 on February 26 to 11,944 on March 10.

Sheffield’s Covid case rate has started to rise again, from 202 confirmed cases per 100,000 people during the week ending on January 27 to 240.3 cases per 100,000 during the seven days to March 6, the latest date for which figures are available.

It remains well below the infection rate during previous waves of the virus, and significantly below the latest UK-wide case rate of 458.7.

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According to the latest Office for National Statistics survey, during the week ending March 5, one in every 25 people in England had Covid.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said a rise in Covid infections was to be ‘expected’ following the easing of Covid restrictions.

He insisted the UK remains in a ‘very good position’ but urged adults eligible for a booster vaccine to come forward and get the jab.

He also assured people the so-called Deltacron variant was ‘not of particular concern’, with only a ‘handful’ of cases of the new strain so far identified in the UK.