Covid: Isle of Man sees hospital admissions hit new pandemic high

A second Covid-19 ward has been opened at Noble's Hospital

The number of Isle of Man hospital patients with Covid-19 has reached its highest level since the pandemic began.

The latest public health surveillance report, which took a snapshot of admissions to Noble's Hospital on Monday, showed 29 patients with coronavirus were being treated.

It found six were admitted specifically for Covid-19 symptoms, while 14 caught the virus in hospital.

The report also recorded three more deaths, taking the death toll to 87.

It is unclear how many of the patients remain in hospital, as the publication of daily figures was scrapped on 1 April, but Manx Care confirmed none were in intensive care.

That move coincided with the lifting of all remaining Covid legal restrictions, which included the requirement for those who test positive to isolate.

Anticipated increase

A spokeswoman for Manx Care said the infection prevention and control team were continuing to implement a wide range of measures, including proactive PCR testing for all inpatients, and "robust processes" were in place to isolate positive patients.

Although patients may test negative on admission, they may subsequently test positive "due to the incubation period of the virus", she said.

She added that while staff absences continued to create challenges for the health and social care provider, "vigilance to protect our patients and service users will always be paramount".

Executive director of nursing Paul Moore said: "We anticipated an increase in cases with the relaxation of rules on the island as we move to an endemic approach to dealing and living with Covid.

"Cases appear to be stabilising and with a lower reproductive number, we are optimistic that numbers of cases will reduce."

Manx Care reintroduced social distancing, banned visitors from its hospital settings and brought back the mandatory wearing of face masks at all of its sites prior to the rule changes.

A second Covid ward was also opened to cope with the rise in Covid-19 patients.

The last spike in hospital patients with the virus was on 18 March 2021, when 23 people were being treated.

Despite the rise in hospital admissions, the surveillance report said a further fall in case numbers had been seen across all age groups, which indicated a "continued slowing in transmission".