'Knock-on' from Covid will be felt 'for months'

THE knock-on effects of the latest coronavirus peak will be felt for 'some months' by NHS hospital and care services, Manchester's public health director has warned.

-  HELENA VESTY

However, the country is now cresting the wave of infections and should see a decline.

There has been a skyrocketing number of Covid-19 cases of the BA.4 and BA.5 variants in recent months.

The renewed prevalence of the virus led to a spiral in hospitalised cases across the region.

Inpatient beds are scarce as some 17 per cent of all beds in Greater Manchester are now being taken up by Covid positive patients, according to the incoming Greater Manchester NHS boss, Sir Richard Leese.

That figure translates to around 1,000 of all general, acute and adult critical care beds in the region.