Covid-19 hospitalisations more than trebled in last month in Greater Manchester

Covid-19 hospitalisations more than trebled during June. The figures soared from 131 for the week ending June 1 and now stand at 470.

The rise comes after Greater Manchester health chiefs have warned for weeks that the next ‘wave’ of the virus was beginning. Senior health sources have also told the Manchester Evening News that while hospitalisation figures can provide a steer on how prevalent the virus is in our communities right now, infection rates are an underreporting of the scale of infections being contracted.

A total of 470 patients were admitted to the city's hospitals with Covid-19 in the week ending June 26, the latest figures issued by the UK Health Security Agency ( UKHSA ) say. That figure is 48 more than the week before and a rise of 11 per cent.

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In the absence of free mass testing, doctors and public health officials alike tell the M.E.N. that infection rates are likely being heavily underreported. Fewer people are likely to report their results as tests now come at a cost, and there are no rules in place to make the reporting mandatory.

Hospitalisation figures show the number of serious cases, where people are unwell enough to warrant inpatient treatment. However, there is a time lag between when they are first positive for Covid-19 and when they are admitted to hospital, meaning the measurement is not always a contemporaneous way of finding out how many people have Covid-19 in the community.

But despite the diminishing number of tests being carried out and results reported, the infection rates across Greater Manchester are growing. Stockport continues to have the highest coronavirus infection