January 24, 2022 8.00 pm This story is over 41 months old

COVID patients on the rise in Northern Lincolnshire hospitals

No risk of ‘major incident’ in hospitals as COVID patients pass 100
Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby (left), and Scunthorpe General Hospital (right). | Photo: NLaG

Northern Lincolnshire’s hospital trust has assured patients it is not in danger of declaring a major incident as the number of patients with coronavirus continues to rise.

There are 103 people with coronavirus are now being treated by Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust after more were admitted over the weekend.

However, only 25 of those were admitted with COVID as the main reason.

There are currently 42 at Grimsby (with one in ICU), 55 at Scunthorpe (with none in ICU) and six at Goole.

The number of trust staff off sick is improving, with 295 currently absent, of which 69 have COVID-related reasons.

This compares to just under 500 in the first week of January.

The hospital trust reported earlier this month that a significant number of beds are being occupied by care home residents who are unable to be discharged due to care homes outbreaks.

Omicron cases are now rapidly falling in northern Lincolnshire after a sharp spike following New Year.

The latest infection rates for both local authorities are 1,000 cases per 100,000 residents.

North East Lincolnshire’s cases have decreased 28% from the previous week, and North Lincolnshire are down 27%.

A recent epidemiology report from North East Lincolnshire Council said: “The highest rates have been seen in the more socially active 19 to 24 population where the rate peaked at over 4,000.

“Of most concern however are the big increases that have occurred in the 60 to 79 and over 80s since Christmas Day which has led to a growing number of hospitalisations.

“In the last week the rates in all adult age groups have fallen significantly.

“There has however been a significant rise in primary school children since the start of the school term and many such schools are managing outbreaks.”