Covid cases among hospital patients up nearly 40% in a week

HEALTH experts fear a new wave of Covid could be building after the number of hospital patients testing positive rocketed by almost 40 percent in a week.

- Hanna Geissler

There were 7,024 infected people on wards on Wednesday - up 37 percent, from 5,124 seven days earlier.

The figure from NHS England was the highest since mid-August.

Rising

Covid patient numbers peaked at more than 14,000 during the last wave of coronavirus in the middle of July, which was fuelled by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants.

But the Health Service Journal reported the number of hospital patients now testing positive is rising as steeply as it did during the earlier January wave, when the peak exceeded 17,000.

The latest figures showed all regions were recording a rise in Covid-positive patients, with the South-west already back to levels not seen since the end of July.

The weekly surveillance report from the UK Health Security Agency also confirmed virus cases were on the rise in England.