November 9, 2020 11.24 am This story is over 40 months old

Record number of COVID patients in Greater Lincolnshire hospitals

Coronavirus on top of normal winter pressures
| Photo: Halfpoint / Adobe Stock

There are currently 221 patients with coronavirus in hospitals in Greater Lincolnshire after a weekend which saw one local hospital trust declare a major incident.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust said on Monday morning that it currently has 95 patients with coronavirus in its hospitals.

Over the weekend Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Trust, which runs Grimsby and Scunthorpe’s hospitals, declared a major incident after reporting 106 COVID-positive patients at their facilities, including 12 in intensive care.

The trust brought in extra nursing staff to cover shifts and reconfigured a number of wards, so the incident was stood down on Sunday, November 8.

As of Monday morning the number of patients with coronavirus has risen from 106 to 126. This includes, five more patients at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby and a further 15 in Scunthorpe, with 12 still in ICU.

Dr Kate Wood, Medical Director of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, said: “In the past few days, we have seen more patients admitted who require high flows of oxygen.

“In line with tried and tested plans, some patients who would normally come to us, have been cared for by neighbouring hospitals while we worked to create additional capacity.

“This work is complete and we have now stood down the Trust-wide incident and would like to thank our staff and our partners.”

A record 1,104 cases of coronavirus across Greater Lincolnshire have been reported this weekend, as well as 18 COVID-19 related deaths, as the region passed the 15,000 case mark.

The government’s dashboard on Sunday evening showed 608 new cases in Lincolnshire along with 304 in North East Lincolnshire and 192 in North Lincolnshire.