Covid-19: Cwm Taf Morgannwg has most hospital patients

Around 12 new Covid-19 admissions are being reported daily in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg area in the last week

Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board has more patients being treated for Covid-19 than at any time since the pandemic began, according to NHS Wales figures.

There have been an average of 210 patients in its hospitals - with 237 on Tuesday.

The boss of NHS Wales said on Wednesday he was concerned at a rising trend across Wales with 49% more patients with the virus than a week before.

Figures also show Aneurin Bevan health board has most hospital admissions.

The area, covering Newport, Monmouthshire, Caerphilly, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and parts of south Powys, saw an average of 28 patients being admitted with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 symptoms each day over the past week.

This is more than twice the numbers in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Cardiff and Vale areas.

The numbers for Cwm Taf Morgannwg admissions reflect Covid-19 infection outbreaks in three of its main hospitals, with 205 cases linked to the outbreak, including patients.

Another 20 cases are being monitored at Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda.

The health board said earlier this week there had been 47 deaths: 38 at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant, five at Prince Charles in Merthyr Tydfil, and four at the Princess of Wales in Bridgend.

From Thursday, its Bridgend Seren hospital opened to its first patients "well on the road to recovery" to allow its three district hospitals to focus on acute care in those locations.

It comes as most elective surgery is postponed at the Royal Glamorgan.

The board's Medical Director Dr Nick Lyons said: "Ysbyty'r Seren will provide a breadth of care for these patients, which will include support with their emotional and physical wellbeing as they recover from the virus.

"The safety of our patients and staff remains our first priority and we now seeing the very beginnings of the positive impact of the mitigating actions we are taking across our sites to contain the spread of the virus."

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The figures show:

• There were 707 coronavirus-related patients in hospital beds in Wales - 49.5% more than the week before. This is about half of the number at the peak (1,347 patients)

• Of those, 326 were confirmed Covid-19 patients - the highest figure since early June. There were 284 patients with suspected Covid and 97 who were recovering from the virus

• A total of 25 people were being treated on invasive ventilated beds, including in critical care, for confirmed or suspected coronavirus, according to the figures on 13 October - three fewer than the week before, although NHS Wales said it expected this figure to rise

• Both the Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Aneurin Bevan boards, two of the main "hotspot" areas for infections over recent weeks, had six patients each, and another six were in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board

• The seven-day average in total daily admissions to hospitals of confirmed and suspected Covid-19 cases continues to rise and is currently 84, up six on the previous week and the highest since June

Of those 326 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Welsh hospitals, more than half of patients are in Cwm Taf Morgannwg.

With the Aneurin Bevan health board, it is comfortably above other health boards for the number of Covid patients, confirmed, suspected and recovering from the virus.

Andrew Goodall, NHS Wales' chief executive, said demand for beds would continue to increase in the days and weeks ahead.

He said it was a virus that "surprises us with its ability, particularly in closed settings, in its ability to transmit across to other parts of hospital and healthcare settings".