Silent Scandal Of The Pandemic

Silent Scandal Of The Pandemic

Silent Scandal Of The Pandemic Credit: Pixabay

Silent Scandal Of The Pandemic.

In what is considered a silent scandal of the pandemic thousands of patients have died after catching the coronavirus on hospital wards.

NHS data shows that tragically nearly 9000 patients have died after becoming infected with the coronavirus while on a hospital ward when they were being treated for a different condition.

According to the Guardian, NHS figures have shown that over 32,000 patients caught the coronavirus during a hospital stay in England since March 2020. Of these patients nearly 9000 died.

Jeremy Hunt, Former Health Secretary has said that many of these deaths could have been avoided and that coronavirus infections that were picked up in hospitals and the associated deaths are: ‘one of the silent scandals of this pandemic’.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, and in the early days there was a lack of understanding of how the virus could spread from those who were asymptomatic, and how this could cause outbreaks in hospitals.

NHS data has been released although it details definite cases and probable cases linked to Covid. The figures include those who acquired the virus in hospital and who died within 28 days of having tested positive.

Chief executive of hospitals group NHS Providers, Chris Hopson explained to the Guardian how at the beginning the pandemic asymptomatic spread of the virus and the limited amount of testing which was carried out meant that the virus was hard to fight and control.

He explained that: ‘These figures are distressing and lay bare how difficult the past 15 months have been. Every Covid-19 death has been a tragedy and trust leaders’ first thoughts are with the families of all those who have died from Covid-19, whatever the original source of the infection.

‘Trusts have worked incredibly hard to maintain a safe environment but Covid-19 brought unique challenges to every health system in the world. These include significant numbers of patients having Covid-19 without showing symptoms and, early in the pandemic, insufficient access to rapid turnaround testing.’

Hospitals are still considered be safe spaces though and an NHS spokesperson said: ‘The Office of National Statistics and other data conclusively demonstrate that the root cause of rising infection rates in hospitals is rising rates in the community and throughout the pandemic weekly reports from Public Health England have consistently shown that outbreaks in hospitals are less common than in other settings.’


The Euro Weekly News is running a campaign to help reunite Brits in Spain with their family and friends by capping the costs of PCR tests for travel. Please help us urge the government to cap costs at https://euroweeklynews.com/2021/04/16/ewn-champions-the-rights-of-brits-in-spain-to-see-loved-ones-again/

Alex
Written by

Alex Glenn

Originally from the UK, Alex is based in Almeria and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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