Covid-19 is once more piling pressure on an already strained NHS, according to Greater Manchester health chiefs. Staff absences as a result of coronavirus are seeing shortages in hospitals, GP surgeries, and community care.
Meanwhile, inpatient beds are scarce as some 17 per cent of all beds in Greater Manchester are being taken up by Covid positive patients, according to the incoming Greater Manchester NHS boss, Sir Richard Leese. That figure translates to around 1,000 of all general, acute and adult critical care beds in the region.
There has been an increase in the number of Covid cases of the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, heard Manchester City Council's health scrutiny committee today (July 20). The renewed prevalence of the virus has led to rises in hospitalised cases across the region.
