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Covid hospital patient numbers in Wales at lowest in pandemic

Getty Images Hospital bedGetty Images
Non-Covid cases outnumber Covid patients by 58 to one

The number of Covid patients in Welsh hospitals is now the lowest it has been since the pandemic began.

There were 227 Covid patients on average in hospital beds each day in the last week, NHS Wales recorded.

Confirmed and suspected cases have seen a 30% drop in a month and are now down 94% from the second peak seen in late-December.

Last Sunday saw the lowest number - 84 - for "active" confirmed or suspected cases in hospital beds.

graph showing numbers in critical care in Wales

More than half of the Covid patients left in hospital are counted as "recovering" and while they are no longer testing positive, they are either still unable to be discharged or are being treated for other conditions.

On Tuesday, 120 were counted as recovering and 91 were confirmed or suspected Covid patients.

Meanwhile, there are only three Covid patients in critical care or on ventilation. Two of these were in the Cardiff and Vale health board area and the third in Swansea Bay.

There have been no Covid patients in critical care in Cwm Taf Morgannwg hospitals for 16 days.

graph showing various total figures

Last week saw the number drop to a record low of two - 98% fewer Covid patients than in mid-January.

ICU units are still above the normal non-pandemic capacity, with numbers of patients recovering from serious surgery and emergencies. However non-Covid patients outnumber Covid patients now 58 to one.

graph showing Covid-19 critical admissions in Wales

Covid admissions now make up just 1.3% of all hospital admissions.

On 4 May, admissions of confirmed and suspected cases were running at a daily seven-day average of 14. This is just above last week's record low of 13. There have been none admitted in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg area for eight days.

Covid-19 patients - including those recovering - made up 2.6% of all patients in hospital on 4 May. The proportion reached 36% before Christmas.

Meanwhile, Public Health Wales has reported 19 hospital-acquired Covid infections in the most recent week. That is half the total in the previous week. These include six "probable" and "definite" cases in Swansea Bay.