Number of patients with Covid-19 in Calderdale's intensive care unit on the rise

Currently in Calderdale royal Hospital and Hudderfield Rotal Infirmary there are 122 inpatients who have tested positive for Covid-19, 16 of whom are being cared for in the Intensive Care Units

Since the start of the pandemic, 281 patients who were being cared for at the Trust and had tested positive for Covid-19, have died.

The Trust's Medical Director, Dr David Birkenhead said: “These are difficult times for all the families involved and our thoughts are with them."

The latest figures come ahead of Boris Johnson outlining the Government's plans on moving forward with a new, stricter ‘tier’ system following the conclusion of England's second national lockdown on December 2

The PM will address MPs, detailing his ‘winter strategy’, and a proposal to deploy a major testing scheme in an attempt to win over rebels on the Conservative backbenchers.

He is expected to give a proposal to deploy a major testing scheme, and will also set out a trial of the repeat testing of close contacts of individuals who test positive for Covid-19, preventing them from having to isolate.

It is hoped the testing plans will be enough to win over dozens of Conservative MPs in the Covid recovery group (CRG), which is threatening to oppose any new restrictions unless they get detailed evidence to prove they will save more lives than they cost.

More areas are expected to enter the higher end of the three tier system that existed in England ahead of the country’s second national lockdown, with restrictions in each expected to be altered.