Covid hospital admissions rocket by 47 per cent in Sandwell
The number of people hospitalised by Covid in Sandwell and West Birmingham has jumped 47 per cent in just eight days.
Sandwell General and City hospitals saw admissions go up by 92 since December 30, to a total of 287.
The increase has put more demand on intensive care units providing specialist equipment.
Dr David Carruthers, acting chief executive of Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, told a meeting of board members on Thursday that since December 30 the community infection rate had ‘gone up considerably’.
Infection rates are now nearly 900 per 100,000 people.
Saying the trust had expanded its intensive care facilities to meet demand, he added: “In our intensive care footprint we had 23 patients who tested positive for Covid. That is now 36.
“So we have added additional space in one of the wards where we were adequately equipped with ventilators.”
The trust is looking to transfer patients to other hospitals, but he warned: “That is difficult because other trusts are in similar situations.”
Overall, coronavirus patients occupy more than 40 per cent of approximately 700 beds with the remainder being used for non-Covid cases.
Richard Samuda, chairman of the trust, warned numbers were expected to rise further still as an expected surge following Christmas was yet to hit.
He said: “We have been remarkably stretched in terms of normal winter pressures alongside this accelerating infection rate.
“In terms of the extended lockdown from Tier 4, it is really vital that people follow that.
“It’s really absolutely crucial to our ability to handle our capacity.
“So the public’s role is hard to overestimate in how important it is to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.”
