Only a handful of Covid patients now being treated at Shropshire hospitals
The county's major hospitals are now caring for just a handful of Covid patients according to the most recent figures.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which manages Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, was caring for just three coronavirus patients as of last Tuesday, official data has revealed..
The trust has been the location where the majority of the county's most serious Covid cases have been treated.
Throughout the pandemic its hospitals have been at the forefront of the battle against the virus, with 554 patients dying from Covid while in their care.
The latest NHS England data shows the number of people being treated in the trust's hospital for Covid-19 by 8am on April 13 was in line with the same day the previous week.
It means that the number of beds at SaTH occupied by people who tested positive for Covid-19 has decreased by 85 per cent in the last four weeks – 28 days ago, there were 20.
It is in stark contrast to the situation at the end of January when the trust was looking after 165 patients with the virus.
Admitted
The figures also show that the number of Covid patients being admitted to the hospitals is continuing to fall.
Two new Covid patients were admitted to the trust in the week to April 11. This was down from three in the previous seven days.
Across England there were 2,057 people in hospital with Covid as of April 13, with 333 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.
The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally has decreased by 64 per cent in the last four weeks, while the number on mechanical ventilators has decreased by 62 per cent.
The figures come as the number of Covid cases within the county continues to drop.
The latest government data shows that the number of cases per 100,000 people in the Shropshire Council area was down to just seven, in the seven days up to April 13.
The figure is a significant fall and the lowest it has been for several months.
For Telford & Wrekin the figure has also been falling, with data now showing a rate of 18 for the borough – again one of the lowest rates recorded in the area since last year.
Powys has seen an increase to a rate of 17, largely on the back of 23 new cases in the seven days up to April 13 – 14 more positive cases than in the previous week.
