Peterborough hospital explains why they have the highest number of COVID patients for more than a year

Peterborough City Hospital has explained why the number of patients with COVID has reached its highest level for more than a year.

On March 3 there were 164 patients with COVID in hospitals run by North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust - including Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford & Rutland. The latest data available shows there were 155 patients in the hospitals on March 2.

The last time levels were above 164 was on February 13 2021, when cases were starting to fall from the winter peak.

However, the data shows not as many people are as seriously ill. On March 5, one COVID patient was in a mechanically ventilated bed, compared with 16 on February 13 2021.

Today a spokesman for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust explained why numbers of patients with COVID were so high at the moment.

The spokesman said; “The daily case numbers we are seeing at the moment are fluctuating but are in line with the numbers we were seeing in February last year. One of the reasons we are seeing so many cases is down to the amount of swabbing we are doing on all patients - regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. Most of our positive cases are in hospital for reasons other than Covid and do not have symptoms. The majority are picked up on admission.”

The COVID case rate remains high in Peterborough - but it is falling. On April 3, the case rate in Peterborough was 576.9 cases per 100,000 people, the lowest level since March 9. The UK rate is 636.3