A HEALTH chief has expressed extreme concern after the Covid-19 infection rate rose above the national average. Dr Tony Hill, interim director of public health in West Sussex, has urged residents to keep within the new lockdown restrictions after the latest figures show the infection rate rose above the average rate in England. For the seven days up to December 30, the infection rate in West Sussex is shown to be 555.2 per 100,000, which is higher than the national average at 518.5. Figures for each seven day rate, which are available on the county council s online dashboard as well as the government s national one, does not include data from the most recent days, to allow time for test results to come through.
There were 744 deaths coronavirus deaths reported yesterday, which is the highest daily figure since April 29. More than a dozen of those deaths were in Sussex. Ten deaths happened at the East Sussex Trust and five happened at Western Sussex Hospitals Trust. The number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test nationwide has reached 69,051. The grim statistic comes as the country reported another 39,237 cases, which is the highest since the start of the pandemic. The rise in cases has been blamed on the new and more contagious variant of the virus in South East England. The total number of infections since the start of the pandemic in the UK now stands at 2,149,551.
Catherine and Sam Harding view the main crib scene, with themselves as Mary and Joseph. Photograph: Ash Mills
For the Mary and Joseph of the Chichester Nativity, it has been less “no room at the inn” and more “no wedding in a pandemic”. Baby Jesus, meanwhile, far from having visitors from nearby fields and faraway kingdoms, hasn’t even been able to meet his aunt, his uncle or his great-grandparents. One of the shepherds is up to her eyes running the local food bank – and the winged angel looking down from above is the local hospital’s head of nursing.
Figures from NHS England show three people died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital on Tuesday. It takes the total number of deaths from the disease to 208, with 12 deaths in the past seven days. Meanwhile two people died in Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust taking the total of recorded deaths to 151 this year. Meanwhile the East Sussex NHS Trust which runs hospitals in Eastbourne and Hastings reported a further patient had died on Tuesday. The NHS trust covering Crawley and Surrey reported a further four patients had died. NHS England guidance states: “Confirmation of Covid-19 diagnosis, death notification and reporting in central figures can take up to several days and the hospitals providing the data are under significant operational pressure.”
Lizzie Deane raised concern over a proposed merger of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust with Western Sussex Hospitals Trust THERE are fears a proposed merger of two hospital trusts would mean patients travelling further for treatment.
Brighton and Hove city councillor Lizzie Deane cited when stroke services moved from the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. She said: “I was really concerned and voiced a concern then that anyone living on the other side of Haywards Heath – having only 45 minutes to get specialist care – would be sailing past their old stroke unit at Princess Royal to come to Brighton.