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VACCINES have reduced waves of Covid deaths to mere ripples – despite a spike in the number of cases reported, according to the data.
Hospital patients are, on average, younger, less poorly and able to leave the wards faster than in previous waves, analysis shows.
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They’re also less likely to end up in hospital in the first place, need a ventilator, or die from the deadly virus.
Meanwhile, the number of infections reported in the UK is finally beginning to drop.
Yesterday, a further 36,389 cases were diagnosed overnight – a drop of almost a third from the 51,870 reported last Friday.
Now the Mail reports that, during the winter wave when daily cases were around the same as they are now, there were almost 27 times more Covid deaths each day.
There were also nine times more people in hospital.
Meanwhile, there are currently 125 patients on ventilators for every 10,000 daily new infections, compared with 2,312 per 10,000 at the same point in the previous wave.
And people aged 54 and under make up 60 per cent of virus patients admitted to English hospitals this time around – compared with just 22 per cent during the winter wave.
That’s likely because some 87.6 per cent of people have now received at least one dose of the vaccine, up from 28.9 per cent at the same time point during the winter surge.
Most OAPs have now received both doses of the vaccine.
Peaks during the UK’s Covid waves
On April 12 2020, 3,301 people were on ventilators in the UK.
On that day, 3,480 new cases were diagnosed, although testing was limited during the first wave.
The number on ventilators was 4,077 on January 24 2021, the peak of the second wave. A total of 17,158 cases were diagnosed that day.
So far, the peak of the third wave was reached on July 22, when 699 received mechanical ventilation. 39,906 new positive tests were received two days ago.
Deaths during the first wave peaked on April 8 2020, when 1,075 people were recorded to have died. 5,120 positive tests were recorded that day.
On January 19 – the peak of the second wave – 1,359 people were reported to have died. 39,467 people tested positive then.
The third wave so far peaked on July 19, when 71 lives were lost. 46,338 tests were recorded on that day.
And 3,565 people were admitted to hospitals on April 1 2020, when 4,936 positive tests were carried out.
The number peaked at 4,579 on January 12 this year – the highest point of the second wave. 49,367 people tested positive for the virus that day.
This time around, 870 people were admitted to a ward on July 19. 46,338 people were newly-diagnosed with the virus last Monday.
- Figures from coronavirus.data.gov.uk
Dr Kevin O’Kane, a consultant in acute medicine at a large hospital in central London, told the paper medics were faced with “almost apocalyptic” scenes at the start of the pandemic.
“I have never seen so many sick people in such a short space of time suffering in the same way,” he said.
However, the situation has changed dramatically since the jabs roll-out began – and he said: “Now, we are in a very different position.
“The message is: the vaccination works.
“With the patients admitted, the vast majority will not have severe illness and won’t go into intensive care. The demographic is different.
“The youngest person we have had is 22.
‘FIRST WAVE WAS APOCALYPTIC’
“Then we have people in their 40s and 50s rather than the very old people we saw in previous waves. We had six pregnant ladies a couple of weeks ago. It’s a whole new ball game.”
The seven-day average for daily Covid infections earlier this week was 46,024, with 711 hospital admissions, 567 patients on ventilators and 42 deaths.
But during the winter wave, when infections were at a similar level of 46,231 on January 17, the seven-day average for deaths was 1,119 – 27 times higher than now.
And there were 37,561 Covid patients in hospitals – nine times as many.
Other top medics say the situation on wards is “nowhere as bad as in previous waves”.
The average time someone is in hospital is down from ten days, on average, to around seven or eight, it’s reported – freeing up 9,000 ‘bed days’.
JABS SLASH DEATHS – DESPITE SPIKE IN CASES
Yesterday, 870 patients were admitted to hospital, the highest daily figure since February 25.
However, deaths remain comparatively low, with 64 recorded yesterday.
On January 20, 1,820 deaths were recorded – the highest number of UK deaths reported on a single day since the outbreak began.
People aged 75 and over account for 19 per cent of patients admitted to hospital with Covid in England during the current wave, which has so far lasted just over two months.
At the same time in the winter wave, this age group had made up 44 per cent of all virus patients.
The number of beds occupied in hospital per 10,000 Covid-19 cases is also on the decline during the current wave, while it was rising in the winter
Akshay Akulwar, a clinical fellow at a large hospital Trust in Essex and a spokesman for Doctors’ Association UK, said: “The number of Covid cases is almost the same as January but we are not seeing the same level of hospitalisation and deaths and intensive care admissions.
“We are busy, as the number of A&E admissions is on average up 10 to 12 per cent across most sizeable hospitals.
“We are seeing patients with Covid but also seeing patients who have not been able to go and see their GP. People with debilitating conditions are trying to bypass their GP and see us.”
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