Norfolk's hospitals say pressure on critical care has decreased but remains above pre-Covid levels as figures show the strain is slowly easing.

NHS data shows there were 189 Covid patients in beds across all hospitals in Norfolk on February 23, down from 315 a week ago and from a record high of 758 on January 15.

Embed code for chart:

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King's Lynn had the most coronavirus patients with 78 – 15pc of its total capacity.

There were also 54 virus patients in beds at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) and 36 at the James Paget University Hospital (JPUH) in Gorleston, making up 5pc and 8pc of all patients respectively.

The number of admissions to hospitals in Norfolk also fell in the week leading up to February 21 to 117, compared to 190 the week before.

Just 12 patients were admitted with coronavirus across the county on February 20 and February 21, the lowest daily totals since November 27 last year.

Embed code for chart:

Critical care bed capacity, though on a downward trend, is still more than half full at all three of the hospitals.

There were 30 patients on critical care beds in the NNUH on February 21 – 68pc of such beds available.

At the JPUH eight patients took up 67pc of critical care beds, while the QEH saw 56pc of its critical care beds taken up by nine patients.

The demand for general beds remains high, with 90pc occupied at the NNUH and JPUH, while 91pc are taken at the QEH.

The levels are back to those last seen in early December, when one in 20 beds at the NNUH contained a Covid patient, one in 12 at the JPH and one in seven at the QEH.

A spokesperson for the NHS in Norfolk said: “Hospital admissions for Covid-19 are continuing to fall, which means we have been able to reduce the number of red zones on inpatient wards and we have started to plan for how we will restore routine outpatient appointments and more planned surgery.

“This has been possible thanks to the efforts of everyone across Norfolk and Waveney to slow the spread of coronavirus and we’d urge everyone to keep following the national guidance, even if you have been vaccinated, as we head towards an easing of restrictions.”