Covid Fife: Hospital admissions in sharp rise since new year

The rise in hospital admissions continues to put pressure on the NHS.

Hospitals in Fife have seen a sharp rise in patients admitted with coronavirus since the start of the new year, as NHS Fife called on those who are still unvaccinated to get the jab.

According to figures released by the Scottish Government, the number of people in Fife who are being admitted to hospital has soared in the first two weeks of January, from 49 on December 31, to 92 by January 17.

And with the recent spread of the Omicron variant, a rise in NHS staff absences is adding pressure onto a strained health service.

NHS Fife says that those who are not vaccinated could be more likely to need critical care from hospital staff.

Medical Director, Dr Christopher McKenna, said: “We are continuing to care for patients with COVID in our hospitals with those numbers increasing since the start of this year.

"This adds yet more pressure to services already stretched with the usual increased demand we see over winter.

"Some patients, notably those that are unvaccinated, do require critical care input and are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, fortunately given the success of the vaccination programme the numbers of patients in Intensive Care are much lower than those seen in January 2021.

“Vaccination remains the most effective means of protecting ourselves against the effects of COVID-19.

"We continue to urge anyone who has not yet been vaccinated, or who have only had one or two doses, to get the take up the offer of vaccination at one of our many vaccination clinics across Fife.”