THE number of Covid-19 patients in hospital in Bradford has doubled over the past month, as Covid case numbers have soared in recent weeks.

There are currently 28 Covid-19 patients at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, double the number a month ago.

It comes as case figures have rocketed in the district in the past two weeks, with more than 1,500 new cases in the past week - a rise of more than 50 per cent.

The number is still well below the peak patient numbers from the first and second lockdowns - which were well in excess of 100 - but as cases continue to rise, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted earlier this week that hospitalisations and deaths will also get worse.

Thankfully, only a couple of patients are on ventilators currently, but this number could change as more peopel go into hospital.

At Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, there are currently four people in hospital, but that is also more than double the number a month ago with patient numbers steadily rising in recent weeks.

There is a delay in patient numbers reported by the Government's Coronavirus dashboard, with the most recent figures being from June 29. In the nine days since then numbers may have got higher.

Nationally, the number of patients in hospital has also more than doubled, up from 860 on June 7 to 2,144 on July 7.

With the highly transmissible Delta variant now rampant across the UK infections are expected to continue to rise at an alarming rate, set to be accelerated by all Covid restrictions being dropped from July 19 - and England's dream Euro 2020 run has almost certainly contributed as well.

Announcing the dropping of restrictions earleir this week, Boris Johnson told the nation that more people will get ill and die from Covid  in the coming weeks and months, and urged everyone in the UK to get vaccinated to give them the best protection from Covid-19.