MORE than 450 people with coronavirus are receiving treatment in Dorset hospitals in the latest figures released by NHS England.

Data released on Thursday, January 14, shows that 452 hospital beds were occupied by Covid patients on Tuesday, January 12, across University Hospitals Dorset (UHD), Dorset County Hospital (DCH) and Dorset HealthCare sites.

On Tuesday, there were 330 Covid patients at UHD, which includes Royal Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Hospitals. There were 79 patients at DCH in Dorchester and 43 across the Dorset HealthCare facilities.

Twenty-one UHD patients required mechanical ventilation, with six such patients at DCH and none at Dorset HealthCare.

Of the 330 coronavirus patients at UHD on January 12, 303 were in general and acute beds.

At that time, the NHS England data shows there were 615 non-Covid patients in general and acute beds across the trust and just 66 general and acute beds were unoccupied.

This means more than 30 per cent of open general and acute beds across the trust were occupied by Covid patients.

In the seven days from January 4 to January 10, 413 patients were admitted with Covid or diagnosed in hospital with coronavirus across Dorset.

This comprised of 320 patients at UHD, including 60 people on January 4, 68 at DCH and 25 at Dorset HealthCare.