THE number of patients with Covid being treated at hospitals in Herefordshire has fallen, latest figures show, despite concerns over the Omicron variant.

With visiting still suspended, initially due to rising Covid cases on wards and in the community, according to the Wye Valley NHS Trust, the latest number of patients with the virus has been revealed.

NHS England data showed 21 patients were being cared for in hospital by the Wye Valley NHS Trust, which runs Hereford County Hospital, on Tuesday (December 14).

That was six fewer than the same day the previous week (December 7), but during the week it hit a five-week high.

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During the seven days to Tuesday (December 14), the number of patients fell from 32 on Wednesday – the most on a single day since 33 on November 3 – to 19 on Sunday and Monday.

That number rose again to 21 on Tuesday (December 14).

The latest figures also showed that 15 new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in Herefordshire in the week to Sunday, December 12.

The week before, that number was 27, and a fortnight before it was 10.

The figure, published on the Government website, showed there were three patients in mechanical ventilation beds on Tuesday, which are used for the most seriously ill.

That was up from two the week before.

In a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday, England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty said Omicron was “moving at an absolutely phenomenal pace” and it would only be a short time until we get to “very large numbers”, adding he thought the variant was a “very serious threat”.

The expert said “all the things that we do know (about Omicron) are bad”.

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He said the existence of effective vaccines and boosters were the things “going for us” but said to his NHS colleagues that there will be “substantial numbers” going into hospital and that will become apparent “fairly soon after Christmas”.

But warning of potential issues with the NHS workforce, he said the expected sharp peak of Omicron cases is likely to lead to lots of people, including healthcare workers, being ill at the same time.

“We may end up with quite substantial gaps in rotas at short notice,” he said.

“Given how much difficulty my health and social care colleagues have had over the last two years, saying that is pretty depressing, because they have really, really had to stand up and go back again and again.

“The reality is this speed of onset is going to lead to lots of people getting ill simultaneously and we have to be realistic about that.”

Earlier, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) chief executive Dr Jenny Harries warned the strain is “probably the most significant threat” since the start of the pandemic as she said cases would be “staggering” compared to what has gone before.