Number of people in hospital with Covid-19 Indian variant not rising significantly, says NHS boss

Number of people in hospital with Covid-19 Indian variant not rising significantly, says NHS boss

The number of people currently in hospital with the Covid-19 Indian variant, now known as the Delta variant, is rising but not ‘very significantly’, according to the boss of NHS Providers Chris Hopson.

He said that many people in hospital in Bolton – the area worst hit by the variant – were younger, with “very few” fully vaccinated patients.

“Infection rates have been increasing in a number of different places. We know that the hospitalisations are increasing, the rates of people coming into hospital in those areas are rising. But they are not rising very significantly,” Mr Hopson said.

He said this appeared to show vaccines had “broken the chain” between infection and serious illness.

Mr Hopson said that in Bolton, people in hospital with Covid were “a lot younger” than patients in earlier stages of the pandemic, which meant there was “less demand on critical care”.

He added that there were “very, very few” people in hospital who had had both doses of a Covid vaccine, as they had the “build-up of protection after those jabs”.