Rotherham Hospital coronavirus cases now in single figures

As of 8am on Wednesday (July 29), there were only six inpatients at Rotherham Hospital who had tested positive for Covid-19 - a 50 per cent drop of inpatients compared to last week’s figure of 12.

George Briggs, chief operating officer at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said routine operations had started in limited areas, such as general surgery and gynaecology.

“Numbers are limited as we are ensuring social distancing and that staff have the appropriate PPE.

“Patients are being asked to self-isolate for 14 days pre-op and are then having a Covid-19 test.

“If this test is negative, they are being admitted for their operation, or brought in on the day if they are a day case.”

Mr Briggs said that the trust was also looking at ways to adapt their new ways of working - such as video consultations - for the long term, adding: “This may mean using video consultations, for example, more often than previously, but we will look at this on a service by service basis as some patient groups will require face-to-face consultations more often than others.”

A total of 415 have been safely discharged from hospital and 202 patients who had tested positive for the virus have died.

A new walk-in testing centre was opened at Rotherham's Forge Island car park yesterday following a spike in cases across the borough.