Covid: 'Significant' number caught virus in Bedfordshire hospitals
A "significant proportion" of patients caught Covid while being treated in hospitals, an NHS trust said.
The Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust said many "second surge" Covid-19 cases had been detected more than eight days after people had been discharged. This indicated "infection was due to acquisition in the hospital", the report said. A trust spokesman said "strict infection prevention processes" were in place. The report said the high number of hospital-acquired infections was due to the "highly transmissible nature" of the virus, as well as the inability to isolate patients, infections in staff and "asymptomatic carriage". "A significant proportion of cases in the second surge were detected eight-plus days following admission, indicating infection was due to acquisition in the hospital," the report said. The report for the trust's board of directors added: "Case reviews have shown that a number of these patients acquired infection while awaiting appropriate and safe discharge." In some parts of Bedfordshire, cases had peaked at about 1,000 per 100,000 people in the first week of January but had reduced towards the end of the month, the report said. The trust includes the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and Bedford Hospital, where Capt Sir Tom Moore died on Tuesday. It said it had implemented a full programme of testing early in the pandemic. A spokesman said: "We have strict infection prevention processes, social distancing measures and visiting restrictions in place to help keep everyone safe, while every patient and staff member is regularly tested." Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust