Sixteen people are being treated for Covid-19 in Croydon as cases continue to rise
By Tara O’Connor, local democracy reporter
There are 16 people being treated for Covid-19 in Croydon’s only NHS hospital as coronavirus cases continue to rise.
Two of the 16 patients are on ventilation and Elaine Clancy, chief nurse and senior responsible officer for Covid-19 response at the Croydon Health Services Trust, said that the numbers are far below the high numbers seen at the peak of the pademic.
In January, Croydon University Hospital was caring for up to 250 coronavirus patients a day and since the start of the pandemic it has cared for more than 3,000 coronavirus patients.
The ages of patients currently being treated range from people in their 30s to their 90s.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked whether those currently in hospital had received their vaccinations, but the trust said it was not sharing this information.
Ms Clancy added: “We know that the vaccine is effective and we would encourage everyone to get the jab to stay safe from COVID and help us get life back to normal.”
The COVID case rate in Croydon stood at 128 cases per 100,000 people in the week to June 29.
This is the latest data available from NHS England and compares to 71 cases per 100,000 for the week up to June 19, a week earlier.
Despite the increase in cases, Croydon’s case rate is still far below the more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 people it was handling in January, when the pandemic peaked in the borough.
More than 218,000 Croydon residents have now received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccination with nearly 150,000 having both shots.
The coronavirus rate in London stood at 167 cases per 100,000 for the seven days up to June 29.
While cases in the capital are increasing, it is lower than the national rate in England, which was 208 cases per 100,000 for the same period.
According to the latest UK government figures, 86 per cent of adults have had their first shot of a Covid vaccine, and 63.8 percent have taken their second dose.