HOSPITALS in Herefordshire are treating more coronavirus patients this week after the number dropped seven days before.

With visiting restrictions still in place at Wye Valley NHS Trust hospitals, including Hereford County Hospital, the number of Covid patients has risen by one over the last week.

On Tuesday, January 11, the number of patients with Covid hit 46 – the highest since February 2020.

But by January 25, that number had fallen to 27, rising slightly to 29 two weeks later on Tuesday, February 8.

Over the last month, January 20 was the day where the trust was treating the lowest number of patients, with data showing there were 20.

As the number of patients in hospitals rises slightly, the infection rate has fallen.

Latest figures show 1,910 people in Herefordshire tested positive for coronavirus in the seven days to February 6 – 502 fewer than the week before.

The infection rate on February 6 stood at 986.5 cases per 100,00 people – higher than the UK average of 794.5.

The latest hospital figures from NHS England also showed that 24 Covid patients were admitted to hospital in Herefordshire in the week to Sunday, February 6.

The week before, that number was 21, and a fortnight before it was 20.

The figures, published on the Government website, showed there was one patient in a mechanical ventilation bed on Tuesday, which are used for the most seriously ill.

That was the same as the week before.