THE number of patients being treated for coronavirus at the Countess of Chester Hospital has fallen below 100 for the first time in nearly two months.

The latest NHS England weekly data report shows the number of Covid patients at the hospital has continued to decline over the past few weeks, but the decline in the past week has slowed.

As of the latest available data point – 8am on Tuesday, February 16 – there were 99 Covid patients at the hospital, with 293 non-Covid adult patients occupying beds at the trust.

This is a substantial decrease from the peak of the current wave of the pandemic, when 290 Covid patients were being treated on January 21. During that time, non-Covid patients and hospital staff had to be redeployed to cope with the situation.

On February 11, there were 97 Covid patients – the lowest number at the hospital since November 14, and also below the peak during the first wave of the pandemic, when 142 Covid-positive patients were being treated on May 4.

The number of Covid patient hospital admissions has also decreased in recent weeks. Having been over 20 per day on average in mid-January, the average number per day has fallen to single figures.

As of 8am on February 16, there were 13 Covid patients on mechanical ventilator beds, down from a peak of 23 in mid-January.

A total of 2,091 Covid patients have been treated at the hospital since the start of the pandemic.