Health Service Journal Editor Alastair McLellan warned the number of patients in hospital with Covid-19 could double by mid-August
A health expert has warned the number of patients in hospital with Covid-19 could double in just three weeks.
Health Service Journal Editor Alastair McLellan said hospitalisations could top 8,000 by mid-August, roughly equivalent to 10 per cent of non-intensive care beds in England.
It came as he scaled down his projection for the number of Covid-19 hospitalisations from 6,000 to 5,500 by the end of July, after the rise plateaued.
But he warned the projected surge would still cause severe delays to routine services.
'There just over 4,000 covid-positive patients in NHS England beds at the moment', he told BBC Radio 4.
'It looks like we are on course for around 5,500 by the end of the month and perhaps 8,000 in the middle of August.'
He added: 'That 8,000 number is important because it is roughly equivalent of 10 per cent of non-intensive care hospital beds that are available in England.
'Very generally, if you get to that 10 per cent number, that is the number where you start to get severe disruption to routine services - hip replacements, that kind of thing.'
Asked whether people are remaining in hospital for as long, he said: 'The data is still building, but the anecdotal evidence from senior healthcare leaders is that lengths of stay is shorter.
'But it's not short enough to stop the number of people in beds rising very steeply.
McLellan added: 'Although it has gone down in recent days, it is still
