Lancaster Covid infection rate now higher than England average

The number of people reporting positive tests in the seven days up to January 4 rose by 727 (35.3 per cent) to 2,788.

The city currently has an increased infection rate of 1,702 based on a rolling seven-day period – up more than 500 on a week earlier.

This is based on the number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, and is now higher than the England average of 1,588.1.

The total number of deaths from coronavirus across the trust hospitals is 672, as of Wednesday January 5.

In the Lancaster City Council region, the total number of deaths within 28 days of first positive test result for Covid-19 reported up to Tuesday January 4 rose by one to 347, while the total number of deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned as a cause on the death certificate, registered up to Friday December 17, rose by three to 391.

As of December 28 there were 66 patients being treated for Covid in UHMBT hospitals, an increase of 20 on the previous week, with four of them on ventilation.

As of January 3, almost 300,000 vaccinations had been given across the Lancaster district – 113,127 first doses, 104,836 second doses and 81,778 booster or third jabs.

Meanwhile, research shows most Covid-positive patients in English hospitals are being treated primarily for coronavirus, although the Omicron wave has resulted in a growing minority who are admitted for other conditions but who test positive for Covid-19 as well.

On December 1, a quarter (25.7 per cent) of Covid patients in hospital in England were being treated primarily for other conditions. By December 28, this had risen to a third (33%).

London has seen the biggest rise in both types of Covid patient.

From December 1 to December 28, the number of beds occupied by people being treated mainly for Covid-19 nearly doubled in the capital, from 844 to 1,630.

At the same time, the number of patients who had Covid but who were being treated mainly for other conditions quadrupled, from 180 to 801.

Patients who are in hospital with, but not because of, Covid still place extra pressure on the system.

NHS England says patients who are being treated primarily for other matters still need “treatment in areas that are segregated from patients without Covid”, and the presence of the virus can be a serious complicating factor for their health.