COVID hospitalisations have tripled in UK hotspot

NHS England figures have revealed that the number of COVID patients being treated by the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust has more than tripled since April.

Rising cases

On 18 April, 13 patients were receiving care with the NHS Trust in Bolton. That number increased to 24 on 18 May, and now 43 patients are undergoing treatment for COVID, with 10 people admitted on Sunday alone. Recent data has also shown that Bolton has an infection rate of 450.7 cases per 100,000 people, and that rate has been continuously rising every week.

Indian variant hotspots

Bolton is one of the eight hotspots in the UK where the Indian variant is thriving. The other hotspots are: Bedford, Blackburn and Darwen, Bolton, Burnley, Kirklees, Leicester, Hounslow, and North Tyneside.

To combat the spread of the variant from these hotspots, the UK government issued a warning on their official website urging citizens to only travel in and out of these towns foressential reasons. The information was published online on Friday, but no announcement or prior warning was given to the authorities or local residents. Layla Moran, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus said:

This is a major change to policy that will have a huge impact on people’s lives.

Simply updating the government website without an official announcement is a recipe for confusion and uncertainty. Local people and public health leaders in these areas need urgent clarity.

Bolton MP, Yasmin Qureshi told Bolton News:

I was not told about this new guidance and I don’t think anybody was. It just shows the incompetence of the government in dealing with this.

Had they known about this guidance I am sure the majority would not have made plans. It leaves them in a very difficult situation because these new guidelines are advisory.

Although the government is trying to contain theIndian mutation with this new guideline, the variant has already spread to 127 of Englands 343 local authorities.