Notts in ‘heat of the pandemic’ as ‘dozens and dozens’ admitted to hospital

Jonathan Gribbin, Nottinghamshire director of public health, said unvaccinated patients as young as 40 are being struck down with serious side effects of the virus and some are in a critical condition in local hospitals.

Speaking at a public health briefing today, Friday, November 12, he said the county remains in the ‘heat of the pandemic’ with the NHS at the heart of ‘the furnace’.

Concerns have been raised about the pressure on the NHS this winter, as more patients come forward with illnesses they left untreated during the pandemic.

Amanda Sullivan, from NHS Nottinghamshire clinical commissioning group, also outlined the growing scale of the problem.

On November 9, there were 186 people in Nottinghamshire hospitals battling coronavirus compared with 160 people the week before, with the number in beds at Sherwood Forest Hospitals – which runs Sutton’s King’s Mill Hospital – rising fro 34 to 48.

Across the county, 20 patients required intensive care and are deemed as ‘critically ill’ with 12 patients losing their lives in the week ending November 9.

She said: “It’s not as high as it was in the peak and the vaccine programme has helped, but we are still seeing people dying of coronavirus. It is still very much with us.

“We are definitely seeing the vaccine showing a protective effect against serious illness and death and hospitalisation.

“When we look in the hospitals, the most seriously ill are predominately in the unvaccinated and in that younger age range.

“Largely because older people are generally people with the highest vaccination rates. We are seeing younger people seriously ill who are unvaccinated.”

She said patients between 40 and 70 were seriously ill with coronavirus compared with the very elderly at the start of the pandemic.

She said: “We are unfortunately still seeing high levels of people who need to go into hospital with coronavirus – and this has risen slightly over the last week or so.

“We had 186 people in our hospitals on November 9 compared with 160 people the week before.

“This is almost two thirds of the highest levels we had in wave one.”

Health hazard

Across Nottinghamshire, 82 per cent of over-18s have had two doses of the vaccine, with ‘good numbers coming forward for their first and second dose’.

She said a third of young people aged 12-15 were vaccinated and 59 per cent of those aged 16-18.

Mr Gribbin said between 300 to 400 people per day were testing positive in the county.

He said: “The present reality I want to describe for Nottinghamshire is one where we see dozens and dozens of people needing to be admitted to our local hospitals for treatment that relates to Covid.

“Covid is still a serious health hazard for people in Nottinghamshire.

“Alongside that, it is driven by hundreds of people across Nottinghamshire testing positive each day for coronavirus. We still remain very much in the heat of the pandemic.

“In many ways it’s our local NHS and care system that are at the heart of the furnace with a high degree of strain and pressure.

“With winter ahead, it’s vital we continue to do what we can to protect ourselves and our local NHS.”

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