THERE are four times as many Covid-19 patients in hospital in Bradford now compared to two months ago.

According to the latest Government data, on July 20 there were 46 Covid-19 patients being cared for at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

This is 20 patients higher than on June 20, when cases were already beginning to rise, and over four times higher than on May 20 when there were only nine people being treated, and is the highly figure since the middle of March when Britain was in full lockdown.

The rising patient numbers follow the huge rise in the number of Covid-19 cases being reported across the Bradford district and wider country in recent weeks.

The figures show that while the link between cases and hospitalisations has been weakened, with less people in hospital compared to previous times case numbers have been high, the link is still there particularly among the unvaccinated.

The number of patients on ventilators has also gone up to six from two a month earlier and four in May.

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust now has 17 patients in its care, up from five a month ago and one on May 20, a significant rise, with three on ventilators compared to one on June 20 and none in May.

In the week to July 18, there were 3,455 new cases of Covid recorded in the Bradford district, up by 49 per cent from the week before, with the infection rate now standing at 640.1 cases per 100,000 people.

A month previous in the week to June 20 there were 803 new cases in the district and the rate was 148.8, showing how badly the number of cases has escalated in the district.

The month before – the week to May 16 – there were only 209 new cases and the district’s rate was 38.7, a far cry from the current state of the district and country in general, as the Delta variant – allowed to enter the country freely by the Government’s slow response in putting India on the red travel list – has ripped through communities across the country as restrictions on socialising have been eased.