Chesterfield Royal Hospital issues coronavirus update as restrictions ease

Two households or groups of up to six people are now able to meet outside after the Government’s ‘stay at home’ call was scrapped.

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On Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Royal said staff were caring for 12 patients with Covid-19, five of whom were receiving intensive care.

The trust has recorded a total of 440 deaths related to the virus, and condolences have been paid to everyone who has lost a loved one during the pandemic.

The hospital spokesperson told the Derbyshire Times: “As restrictions are further lifted, we continue to ask everyone to keep to the guidelines as set by the Government at all times.

“While we share the cautious optimism that the lifting of restrictions brings, the reality is that we still have critically-ill patients with Covid-19 as well as others being cared for as inpatients.

“We want people to enjoy the moment responsibly and safely to give us all the best chance of making the additional strides that will enable further restrictions to be lifted as planned, keep those numbers down and protect ourselves, each other and our services.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday was a ‘big day for many of us’ with the first chance to see friends and family outdoors in many months.

“It’s only because of months of sacrifice and effort that we can take this small step towards freedom and we must proceed with caution,” he said.

“It’s great to see that on Sunday we recorded the lowest number of new infections for six months, deaths and hospital admissions across the UK are continuing to fall.

“That wave is still rising across the channel and it’s inevitable, as we advance on this roadmap, that there will be more infections and unavoidably more hospitalisations, and sadly more deaths,” he warned.

April 12 is the next big milestone – when non-essential retail is set to reopen and hospitality venues will be able to serve people outdoors.

More than 30 million people in the UK have now had a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

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