Only a handful of Covid-19 patients in county’s wards
There are only a handful of Covid patients currently being treated at county hospitals, according to the latest data.
The number of patients being treated at Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has dropped massively in recent weeks – with three being treated at the hospital as of last week.
Although the figure is up from the two being treated the week before, it represents a major difference from the height of the third wave in February when about 165 patients were being cared for at the trust.
There has also been a remarkable drop-off in the number of people dying from the virus in the county, with the last Covid death at a Shropshire NHS trust coming on March 21 – well over a month ago.
There have been 595 Covid deaths at county NHS trusts since the pandemic began. Across England there were 1,310 people in hospital with Covid as of April 27, with 196 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.
The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally has decreased by 60 per cent in the last four weeks, while the number on mechanical ventilators has decreased by 62 per cent.
The figures also show that three new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in the week to April 25. This was up from one in the previous seven days.
The results are seen as a result of a combination of lockdown reducing cases, and the unprecedented vaccination programme providing a level of protection not previously available.
It comes as more than 100,000 people in Shropshire have now had both doses of the vaccine – a total of 107,938.
Of the figure 31,775 were in the Telford & Wrekin CCG area, and 76,163 in the Shropshire CCG area.
In Telford of those to have received both jabs, 27,107 were aged 45 and over – 35 per cent of the age group, while in Shropshire it was 67,012 – some 39 per cent of the group.
The figures also show 92,017 people in Telford and Wrekin and 184,477 in Shropshire have received at least one jab.
It comes as the Government announced an extra 60 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus jab have been secured for a booster vaccination programme in the autumn.
