The average number of patients with Covid in hospital intensive care units in Wales has fallen to single digits for the first time since last summer.
In the past week, an average of nine patients have been ventilated in intensive care or with Covid every day.
It’s the lowest reading since mid-July.
Wales will lift its remaining Covid restrictions from March 28, the Welsh Government announced last week – the last part of the UK to lift its coronavirus rules entirely.
Eight of the Covid patients in intensive care were in Cardiff on Monday.
The other, in the Hywel Dda Health Board area of Mid and West Wales, was being treated mainly for something else.
Almost 80% of patients in acute beds who test positive for Covid are in hospital mainly to be treated for another condition, according to figures from Digital Health and Care Wales.
In Hywel Dda there were no Covid patients at all in acute beds being ‘actively’ treated for the virus.
Positive tests for Covid in the community have risen slightly over the past three days, but even when positive tests for lateral flow tests are taken into account, case numbers are 45% lower than a month ago.
- Finding out the statistics on the coronavirus in Wales
- What is Wales’ plan for Covid testing?
- Covid vaccines not linked to deaths – US study
On March 7th there was a moving average of 444 hospitalized patients with confirmed Covid, slightly more than a week ago.
That’s also now almost the same number as the number of patients in hospital with confirmed Covid at the same time in 2021, although the numbers have been significantly lower for much of this winter.
Just 76 (21%) of Monday’s confirmed Covid patients in acute care beds were being treated primarily for the virus, with 290 hospitalized to be treated for other conditions.
Although patients could be ‘accidentally’ ill with Covid, this does not mean that it cannot lead to complications for their health or treatment and still poses challenges for patient management in hospitals.
Deaths from Covid accounted for less than 4% of all deaths in Wales in the last week, according to the Office for National Statistics.
According to registered death statistics, there have been 27 deaths with Covid as the underlying cause.
In the last week, up to February 25, 43 people in Wales have had a death involving Covid-19 – and seen it listed as a contributing factor on a death certificate.
This is compared to 47 Covid-related deaths recorded in the previous week, according to the ONS.
Deaths from Covid were four times higher in the same week in 2021.
There were no Covid deaths in six counties: Anglesey, Blaenau Gwent, Ceredigion, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil and Pembrokeshire.
The total number of deaths from the pandemic in Wales is now 8,419 due to Covid – as the underlying cause.
There have been 9,729 deaths with Covid where it is mentioned on the death certificate as a contributing factor.
Add Comment