Number of Doncaster hospital coronavirus patients dips below 100 for first time in months

In its weekly update on the town’s Covid-19 situation, Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust said that earlier this week, the number dropped below 100 for the first time since October.

However, figures have risen again slightly to put the current total at 104.

In a statement issued late yesterday, a spokesman said: “As of 4pm, our hospitals are caring for 104 patients with COVID-19.

“The breakdown of this is 77 at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, 26 at Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop and just one at Mexborough’s Montagu Hospital. The age range of these individuals is between 30 and 96.

"Of those with us, 18 currently require critical care. We continue to work around the clock for all of our patients.

"This week, the number of COVID-19 patients in our care dipped below 100 for the first time since October. This is a positive development and we believe shows the hard work and sacrifice put forward by local people in Doncaster and Bassetlaw. We do however know how quickly things can change, so please keep it up, do not become complacent and continue to observe hands, face and space.

"Colleagues continue to work extremely hard, both caring for patients and also making good progress with our local vaccination programmes, and for that we share our thanks. We also share those same thanks with you all - it has been a difficult January in so many ways, but you've risen to the challenge as always.”

Yesterday, Doncaster was the only area in South Yorkshire that saw an decline in the infection rate.

The infection rate fell from 283.4 to 246.9. This reflects a week-on-week decline in new cases from 884 to 770.

The figures, for the seven days to January 22, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.