Public urged to continue abiding by lockdown rules – as number of Covid patients at Chesterfield Royal Hospital falls

At 10am on Thursday, hospital staff were looking after 84 people with the virus – 11 of whom were in intensive care.

MORE: Calls to use north Derbyshire Covid test centre after woman claims it was empty

There were 180 coronavirus patients at the Royal two weeks ago.

Simon Towers, Chesterfield Royal Hospital spokesperson, confirmed the trust had now recorded a total of 399 deaths linked to Covid-19.

The trust offered its condolences to all those who have lost a loved one during the pandemic.

Mr Towers said: “We are starting to see fewer cases in the hospital and there is certainly reason for optimism since the roadmap to exit lockdown was announced and the success of the roll-out of the vaccination programme.

“However, that must be balanced by the fact that we still have more patients with a positive diagnosis of Covid-19 than we had during the April 2020 peak.

“For this reason we would continue to urge everybody to follow the current Government guidelines and abide by all safety measures, including the use of facemasks, hand sanitising and social distancing to protect each other and protect our services.

“It’s as important as ever for us all to keep following the rules to ensure all of that optimism can be realised and to keep those numbers in a downward trajectory.”

Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said ‘we must all continue to play our part’ in controlling the spread of the virus.

He said: "Infection rates are falling, but they still remain very high and the impact of Covid-19 is still putting pressure on hospitals across the country.

"Vaccines give clear hope for the future, but for now we must all continue to play our part in protecting the NHS and saving lives."

Latest figures from NHS England show a total of 301,637 people across Derbyshire have now had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine – up from 43,891 on the previous week.

Derbyshire Covid-19 positive tests per 100,000 people in the latest week (February 14 to February 20)

Amber Valley: 120

Bolsover: 182

Chesterfield: 155

Derby: 180

Derbyshire Dales: 104

Erewash: 199

High Peak: 119

South Derbyshire: 116

England national average: 104

MORE: NHS in Derbyshire urges people aged 65 to 69 to book their vaccine

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