Leeds Covid stats show infection rate now stable as eight new hospital deaths recorded

Figures released by NHS England show 884 deaths were recorded in the country's hospitals in the 24 hours to 4pm on Wednesday, including eight in Leeds.

The deaths took place between December 4 2020 and January 13 2021, with the time taken for positive results to be received among the potential factors in a delay between a death happening and being recorded.

NHS England said the patients were aged between 27 and 101. All except 48, aged between 38 and 101, had known underlying health conditions.

The data represents the deaths of hospital patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 in the previous 28 days and whose deaths were recorded in the latest reporting period.

Since April 28 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement also started to report the number of patient deaths where there has been no Covid-19 positive test result but it is documented as a direct or underlying cause of death in the death certification process.

The figures for the latest reporting period show there were 45 such deaths in England.

According to Government data, a total of 971 patients across all hospital trusts and community settings in Leeds have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 up to January 14.

This equates to 122.4 deaths per 100,000 people since the pandemic began, with the highest daily total being 16 deaths on April 4 2020.

Separate Office for National Statistics data, updated weekly, shows there have been a total of 1,240 deaths recorded in Leeds where the death certificate mentioned Covid-19 as one of the causes.

This equates to 156.3 deaths per 100,000 people since the pandemic began.

How many Covid patients are being treated in Leeds hospitals?

According to Government data on healthcare, 32 patients with Covid-19 were admitted to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust sites on January 10 - the most recent date for which figures are available.

It brings the total number of coronavirus patients admitted to the trust's hospitals since the pandemic began to 3,955.

The highest number of admissions recorded to date was 52 patients on November 11 2020.

As of January 12, 219 of those patients remained in hospital for treatment including 20 in mechanical ventilation beds.

The highest number of Covid patients being treated on any one day was 331 on November 22 2020, with the most patients in mechanical ventilation beds being reported as 45 on April 23 2020.

Figures for the number of patients discharged are not currently provided on a daily basis.

However, the latest NHS England data shows a total of 2,357 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 were discharged between March 19 2020 and January 6 2020.

Is the number of Covid cases rising in Leeds?

According to the latest Government figures, 439 people in Leeds tested positive for Covid-19 on January 14. It brings the total number of people who have tested positive to 46,841.

The highest daily number of cases reported was 693 on October 1 2020.

There were 2,626 cases confirmed in the seven days to January 9, meaning Leeds has a rate of 331.1 per 100,000 people.

This is a slight increase of 4.1 per cent on the previous seven-day period and the rate fell for three consecutive days this week.

How many Covid tests have been carried out in Leeds?

According to the latest Government figures, 11.8 per cent of the 24,593 people in Leeds who received a PCR test went on to receive a positive result in the week ending January 9.

The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests are lab-based and test for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The figures also show that 1,669 lateral flow test results were provided on January 13 in Leeds, bringing the total to date to 26,135.

Those figures represent the number of confirmed positive, negative or void lateral flow device test results. This is a count of test results and may include multiple tests for an individual person.

Lateral flow devices test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus and are swab tests that give results in less than an hour, without needing to go to a laboratory. They have been used in trials of mass testing in schools, universities and care homes.

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