Exhausted hospital staff caring for more Covid patients in Northamptonshire amid 'fake news' claims by virus deniers

"We hope people can see this virus as more than a set of figures and understand the impact it is having on people," says NGH chief
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Exhausted front line NHS staff are battling on dealing with the impact of Covid-19 in Northamptonshire...amid a wave of claims of "disinformation" and "grossly misleading figures" on social media.

Whenever this newspaper publishes posts on our social media platforms about the number of deaths, some readers make accusations of lies, fake news, the pandemic being over-exaggerated and questioning the validity of the figures due to 'underlying health conditions'.

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Yet hospital cases in the county rose by around 60 per cent between Christmas and early-January and for those on the frontline — such as a Kettering ITU nurse we featured — the impact is very real.

Decembers lockdown protests sparked protests, including this one in Bristol. Photos: Getty ImagesDecembers lockdown protests sparked protests, including this one in Bristol. Photos: Getty Images
Decembers lockdown protests sparked protests, including this one in Bristol. Photos: Getty Images

NGH Medical Director, Matthew Metcalfe, said: "Any life lost to this virus is deeply saddening to us all, whether they had underlying conditions or not.

“We know that Covid does have a more profound impact on those with pre-existing conditions and sadly those people may have poorer outcomes if they become infected with the virus.

"A pre-existing condition covers a huge range of illnesses and injuries.

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"Patients with asthma or diabetes would be listed, for example, so it is not unusual that many of the patients who have died due to this virus will have had other illnesses or injuries on their record.

Protesters in Nottingham accuse the media of spreading fear by publishing Government statistics on deathsProtesters in Nottingham accuse the media of spreading fear by publishing Government statistics on deaths
Protesters in Nottingham accuse the media of spreading fear by publishing Government statistics on deaths

“We all have a responsibility, whether we have underlying health conditions or not, to keep those around us safe and do all we can to stop the spread of the virus.

"We hope people can see this virus as more than a set of figures and understand the impact it is having on people.”

NHS England has reported more than 800 deaths since March at Northamptonshire's two main hospitals among patients "where where Covid-19 is documented as a direct or underlying cause of death during the death certification process."

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Many doubters on social media claim Covid is less of a contributory factor than is it is made out to be and make references to underlying health conditions.

How the number of patients being treated for Covid-19 in Northamptonshire's hospitals continues to riseHow the number of patients being treated for Covid-19 in Northamptonshire's hospitals continues to rise
How the number of patients being treated for Covid-19 in Northamptonshire's hospitals continues to rise

Yet leading medical journal The Lancet recently published research showing nearly a quarter of the global population have at least one underlying health condition, making them more vulnerable to severe Covid-19 infections and most likely to need hospital treatment.

Conditions which can make anyone with Covid more likely to need hospital treatment include: cancer; kidney disease; obstructive pulmonary disease; Down syndrome; heart conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies; recipients of organ transplants; obesity; pregnancy; sickle cell disease; smokers; diabetes; asthma; cerebrovascular disease affecting blood vessels and blood supply to the brain; cystic fibrosis; hypertension or high blood pressure; recipients of blood or bone marrow transplants; HIV; users of corticosteroids or other immune weakening medicines; neurologic conditions such as dementia; liver disease; pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues); thalassemia (a type of blood disorder); severe genetic disorders and inherited metabolic disorders.

Much is also made of Covid-19 being downgraded from being a High-Consequence Infectious Disease in the UK in March. This was because it no longer met all the criteria — the virus was better understood, testing was available and clinical awareness had risen.

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Last week, some social media users in Northamptonshire also shared a Government document appearing to show only 50 Covid-19 cases in England and Wales during one week in December instead of more than 40,000 daily.

The document is from Public Health England's Notification of Infectious Diseases system (NOIDS), designed to quickly detect possible outbreaks of disease and epidemics.

A PHE spokesman told news agency Reuters: “NOIDS reports are simply one route for clinicians to report suspected cases of Covid-19, which may or may not be subsequently confirmed. They do not in any way represent a total number of confirmed cases.”

National totals of deaths and positive test results is published daily on the Government’s Covid-19 dashboard.