- 01/05/2023
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
I tabled Written Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with questions about Coronavirus.
1 To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of trends in the level of (a) covid-19 infection, (b) admissions to hospital as a result of covid-19 infection or related complications and (c) deaths attributed to covid-19 in the last six months.
The response:
UK Health Security Agency are continually monitoring trends in COVID-19, to inform the Government on the spread, severity and impact of COVID-19. Long term trends must be interpreted with caution, as they can be affected by changes in dominant variant, timing of vaccine booster campaigns, seasonality, and changes to testing policy.
Over the last six months, trends have shown that cases of COVID-19 are seen to increase approximately every three months before returning to a baseline. This was seen over the Christmas period, and there has been a slow increase over March that has returned to baseline. Overall, the peaks are smaller than those seen in previous waves, peaking at 8,236 cases per day in December 2022 compared to a peak of 30,388 in July 2022.
Hospital admission due to COVID-19 tend to mirror cases of COVID-19. Over the last six months there have been peaks in hospital admissions over the Christmas period and a slow increase over March that has begun to decrease. Admissions peaks are similar or smaller than those seen previously, peaking at 1,376 admissions per day in December 2022, 1,418, in October 2022 and 2,005 in July 2022.
For deaths attributed to COVID-19, where COVID-19 is recorded on the death certificate/registration, over the last six months there has been an increase in deaths over the early January period, and a slow increase in April 2023. Peaks in deaths have been similar or lower to those seen previously, peaking at 126 per day in Jan 2023, 111 in Oct 2022, and 189 in July 2022.
2 To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaths recorded in (a) England and Wales and (b) Walsall were attributed to covid-19 in (i) October 2022, (ii) January 2023 and (iii) the most recent 30-day period for which figures are available.
It should be noted that UK Health Security Agency have two measures of death associated with COVID-19, any death that has a positive COVID-19 test in the preceding 28 days, and deaths which have COVID-19 recorded on their death registration.
The response:
For England and Wales, in October 2022 there were 4,223 deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 2,573 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration. In January 2023 there were 4,063 deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 3,380 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration. In the 30 day period between 12 March 2023 and 10 April 2023 there were 3,366 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 1,704 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration
For Walsall, in October 2022 20 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 17 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration. In January 2023, 27 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and 14 deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration. In the 30 day period between 12 March 2023 and 10 April 2023, 22 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and four deaths were recorded with COVID-19 on the death registration.
3 To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in (a) Walsall and (b) England and Wales were admitted to hospital as a result of covid-19 infection or associated complications in (i) October 2022, (ii) January 2023 and (iii) the most recent 30-day period for which figures are available.
The response:
We do not hold the data in the format requested for people in Walsall being admitted to hospital, however we do hold the data by National Health Service trust. The most relevant trust for the question asked would be Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and this data is provided below.
For Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, in October 2022, 187 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19. In January 2023, 77 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19. In the 30-day period from 12 March to 10 April 2023, 144 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19
For England and Wales, in October 2022, 31,613 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19. In January 2023, 21,033 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19. In the 30-day period from 12 March to 10 April 2023, 24,989 people were admitted to hospital with or for COVID-19.
4 To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in (a) Walsall and (b) England and Wales tested positive for covid-19 in (i) October 2022, (ii) January 2023 and (iii) the most recent 30-day period for which figures are available.
The response:
To provide more accurate data on COVID-19 infections and avoid double counting cases, if a person tests positive multiple times within a certain time period, these are all counted as a single case of COVID-19. In England this period is 90 days, and in Wales 42 days.
For Walsall, in October 2022 there were 952 cases of COVID-19 detected. In January 2023 there were 468 cases of COVID-19 detected. In the 30-day period between 14 March 2023 and 12 April 2023 there were 404 new cases of COVID-19 detected.
For England and Wales, in October 2022 there were 217,044 cases of COVID-19 detected. In January 2023 there were 83,659 new cases of COVID-19 detected. In the 30-day period between 14 March 2023 and 12 April 2023 there were 92,736 new cases of COVID-19 detected.