Total number of Covid cases in Shropshire tops 25,000
More than 25,000 people in the county have had Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, the latest figures show.
It comes after Public Health England changed the way it reported the figures.
A revision in the historical case data in England led to the removal of 5,500 cases nationally over three days last week.
Cases that are identified through a positive lateral flow test – those which can deliver results within half an hour – are no longer being counted if the person then takes a PCR test, which is sent to a lab to be checked, and receives a negative result within three days.
According to the most up-to-date data the number of Covid cases in the county since the pandemic began stands at 26,216 – 15,157 in the Shropshire Council area and 11,059 in Telford & Wrekin.
On January 1 there had been 7,848 cases in Shropshire in total in the first ten months of the pandemic.
It means that the 'third wave' from January to May has seen 7,309 cases – almost as many in half the space of time.
In an echo of the situation in Telford & Wrekin there had been 5,747 cases in the first ten months of the Covid crisis – with 5,312 then from January to May 23.
The numbers show the severity of the situation faced by health services in recent months. At some points since January Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust was dealing with more than 160 Covid patients on its wards.
It comes as data confirms that Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust was only caring for one coronavirus patient in hospital as of May 18.
A total of 595 people have died with the virus at county NHS trusts, while there have been 296 Covid related care home deaths.
In Powys figures show 265 people have died with Coronavirus.
NHS England data shows the number of people being treated in hospital across the country for Covid-19 by 8am on May 18 was down from three on the same day the previous week.
Across England there were 749 people in hospital with Covid as of May 18, with 114 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.
The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally has decreased by 55 per cent in the last four weeks, while the number on mechanical ventilators has decreased by 58 per cent.
There has been concern in recent days over the discovery of an Indian variant of Covid in Newport, and in the Shropshire Council area.
Significant extra testing has been put in place in Newport in a bid to prevent any spread – after the cases were confirmed in a small number of students at Burton Borough School.
