North East and Yorkshire becomes first region to exceed first wave covid bed occupancy

Covid patients bed occupancy is now 104 per cent of the level reported in the first wave. On 9 April the seven-day average number of beds with a covid patient in it stood at 2,567. That figure was 2,662 on 3 November, two days before England moved back into national lockdown.

The North West region still has the highest number of covid patients in hospital beds and is nearing parity to the first wave with a seven-day average of 2,845 beds occupied on 3 November, 98 per cent of the 2,890 in first peak.

The Midlands had 2,154 beds occupied by 9 April, 70 per cent of its 3,101 peak. The region continues to see its admissions and track below the North East and Yorkshire, and North West.

The South West is the region with the next highest beds occupied as a proportion of the first peak. It had an average of 504 beds occupied on 3 November – 60 per cent of the 840 reported on 14 April in the first wave.

The East of England and South East regions are currently at around a third of the number of beds occupied by patients with covid than in the first wave. The East has 546 currently occupied compared ,1484, the South East has 676 to 2,073. London has just a fifth of the number in the first wave, with 990 currently occupied against 4,813

While the Midlands is behind the northern regions on admissions and bed occupancy, its trust saw the largest weekly increase in covid deaths between the end of October and start of November.

The seven-day total deaths of covid patients in Midlands trusts increased from 175 on 25 October to 258 1 November.

This was driven in large part by the number of deaths trebling at three trusts in the region, including at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust where the seven-day total deaths increased from 12 on 25 October to 37 by 1 November.

There are some positive signs emerging in the North West region, however, where admissions appear to have plateaued. The seven-day total admissions hit a peak of 2,159 on 29 October and have since fallen, with 2,100 total admissions by 1 November.

While encouraging this should be treated with some caution as the North West’s trusts did see the admissions trend flatten between 18 October and 22 October before rising steeply again.

Update: this post is updated regularly.