HOSPITALS in Herefordshire are treating more coronavirus patients this week than at any other time in the last 11 months, new figures show.

With visiting restrictions still in place at Wye Valley NHS Trust hospitals, including Hereford County Hospital, the number of patients has nearly doubled in a week

On December 24, the number of patients with Covid at the trust had fallen to a four-month low of seven, but three weeks later on Tuesday (January 11) that number had hit 46.

On the same day the week before there were 25.

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The last time there were more than 46 patients with Covid at the trust was February 1, at the end of the peak last winter.

It comes after a record number of people in Herefordshire have been testing positive for coronavirus.

In the seven days to January 4, the infection rate stood at 1,511.2 cases per 100,000 in Herefordshire, more than double the previous high of 668.3 on September 27, 2020.

There are early signs that the spread is beginning to slow though, with the latest infection rate, for the seven days to January 8, falling slightly to 1,262.8.

Herefordshire Council's acting director of public health put the rise down to socialising over the Christmas and New Year period, as well as the Omicron variant becoming dominant.

The latest figures also showed that 28 new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in Herefordshire in the week to Sunday, January 9.

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The week before, that number was 30, and a fortnight before it was four.

The figures, published on the Government website, showed there were no patients in a mechanical ventilation bed on Tuesday, which are used for the most seriously ill.

That was the same as the week before.

The number of patients in Herefordshire's hospitals remains far below levels seen last winter.

During last winter's peak, the number of patients in hospital with Covid hit 117 on January 19.

Between the winter peak and the end of 2020, the most patients at the trust with Covid was on November 1 when there were 35.