The number of people in hospital with Covid in England is less than half the same time last year – despite cases being three times higher, official figures show.
As a sign that Omicron may result in less severe cases, yesterday’s hospitalization with Covid saw 8,474 people, as opposed to the 19,277 who were there the same day last.
This is almost 1,000 more than the daily average since March 5, and it’s also the most significant increase in a single day. But health bosses say there have been no reports of large numbers of patients requiring ventilators like during last winter’s peak.
The most up-to-date figures reveal there were 842 Covid patients in intensive care on ventilators – the lowest level in two months.
Covid case numbers – which were updated for the first time since Christmas Eve – reveal 98,515 people in England tested positive yesterday. This figure is more than four times the number of people who test positive for Covid on the same date last year. It is also a significant decrease from the 113.628 cases that were reported in England on Christmas Day.
The most up-to-date figures reveal there were 842 Covid patients in intensive care on ventilators – the lowest level in two months
The number of cases is even lower than those reported on Boxing Day, which saw 103,558. The promising figures highlight the vaccine’s protective effects against severe illness, as well as the mounting evidence that Omicron is a milder strain.
A further 143 people in England died after testing positive for Covid yesterday – down 42 per cent on the 246 people who were reported to have died the same day last year.
And yesterday’s figure could be skewed by a recording lag, which saw no fatalities registered on Christmas Day and just three on Boxing Day.
Meanwhile data for London – which No10 has been watching closely – reveals there were 364 Covid hospital admissions across the capital on Christmas Day.
While this was a rise on the 278 hospitalisations reported on Christmas Eve, it is still lower than the 400 admissions per day thought to be the Government’s trigger point for imposing new restrictions.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), reported last night that there were 45,307 more confirmed Omicron cases across the UK.
The total number of confirmed variant cases in the UK is now 159,932. However, this does not reflect any additional information about Scotland or Northern Ireland that have not provided data since December 23rd.
There have been 39 deaths of Omicron-related people in England, and 407 hospital admissions of Omicron patients.
Health bosses said that Covid admissions to hospitals were not rising ‘precipitately so’ but warned that it is still ‘far too early’ to dismiss concerns.
Health bosses said that Covid admissions to hospitals were not rising ‘precipitately so’ but warned that it is still ‘far too early’ to dismiss concerns
Chris Hopson, NHS Providers chief executive, said: ‘Trust leaders are watching their current hospital admissions data very closely.
‘Talking to chief executives this morning, the sense is that admissions are rising but not precipitately so. What’s particularly interesting is how many chief executives are talking about the number of asymptomatic patients being admitted to hospital for other reasons and then testing positive for Covid.
‘Trusts are not, at the moment, reporting large numbers of patients with Covid type respiratory problems needing critical care or massively increased use of oxygen, both of which we saw in January’s Delta variant peak.
‘We should therefore be cautious about over interpreting current Covid admission data.’
He added that trusts are ‘preparing for the worst and hoping for the best’.