Rise in Covid-19 hospital patients in England levels off

The latest rise in the number of hospital patients in England testing positive for Covid-19 looks to have come to a halt, with figures levelling off slightly below the previous peak. A total of 13,375 people with coronavirus were in hospital as of 8am on July 21, down 3% on the previous week. It is the second day in a row the total has shown a week-on-week fall. The rate of increase has been slowing steadily since the start of July, after rising as high as 39%. The figures suggest the impact of the current wave of Covid-19 may be starting to ease – and that patient levels will not reach the sort of levels seen during the surge in infections earlier this year.