THE number of patients with coronavirus being treated at Herefordshire's hospitals remains at one of the highest levels in seven months.

NHS England data shows 17 people were being cared for in hospital by the Wye Valley NHS Trust on Tuesday, September 21.

There were no beds occupied by people who tested positive for Covid-19 on May 18 – the day after the second easing of lockdown in England. 

The figures show the number of people being treated in hospital for Covid on September 21 was the same as on Tuesday the previous week.

From February 26 until August 30, there were not more than 16 Covid patients at the Wye Valley NHS on any one day.

But since the end of August, number have ranged from between 13 and 19.

The latest figures also show that 24 new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in Herefordshire in the week to September 19 – two less than the previous seven days.

The number of patients in mechanical ventilation beds, those used for the most seriously ill, had risen to three on September 21.

That number has been between zero and two since July 20, and stood at two on August 31.

March 1 was the last day there were more than two Covid patients in ventilation beds.