The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 in England has increaed 22 per cent in a week, new figures show.
There were 6,720 people in hospital with the virus on 14 December, up from 5,501 on 7 December, according to data released by NHS England.
The number of mechanical ventilation beds occupied by confirmed Covid patients rose from 129 to 150 over the same period.
The scale of the increase varies by region. The number of beds occupied by Covid patients in the south-west rose from 466 to 726, a 56 per cent increase.
It comes as nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to start strike action in a row over pay on Thursday after talks with the government broke down.
The nursing union was urged to do more to “avoid patient harm” and “alleviate unnecessary distress” for dying patients on strike days by the UK’s four chief nurses and the NHS’s head of cancer care.
Sir Keir Starmer has urged Rishi Sunak to negotiate with nurses over pay as he labelled the impending strike a “badge of shame” for his government.
The Labour leader accused the prime minister of entering “hibernation” rather than working to get Thursday’s first ever nationwide strike of nurses called off.
There were no talks between health secretary Steven Barclay and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) scheduled after they fell apart on Monday.
Further data from NHS England reveals that the number of people primarily being treated for Covid in acute trusts increased by 17 per cent between 6 and 13 December from 5,096 to 5,982.
The data chimes with figures from the Office for National Statistics that suggests Covid infection levels are on the rise in England again, with 1.73 per cent, or 1 in 60, people in the community estimated to have the virus in the week ending 26 November, up from 1.60 per cent the previous week.
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Kaynak: briturkish.com
