The number of Covid patients in the trust which runs Basingstoke's hospital has dropped to its lowest level since the beginning of the year.

Patients with the virus at the three hospitals of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust – Andover, Basingstoke and Winchester – are currently numbered at 63, a fall of almost three quarters since the middle of January.

The number of patients in critical care beds has also returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The news was revealed at a briefing of politicians for north Hampshire on February 25, which was led by the trust’s chief executive, Alex Whitfield.

She revealed that over the past five weeks, patients with Covid have dropped from 245 in the week of January 18 to 63 this week (w/c February 22), a decline of over 74 per cent.

Hospitalised Covid-positive patients over the age of 80 have also declined to 14 per cent, compared to a second wave average of 31 per cent, while figures for those over 70 are also declining.

Patients in critical care beds have also seen falls to pre-pandemic levels, while hospital mortality is down to 17 per cent in the second wave against 26 per cent in the first.

Councillor Phil North, one of the politicians at the meeting, called the results ‘encouraging’ and attributed the falls to the ongoing vaccine rollout in north Hampshire.

As of February 25, 38 new cases of Covid were confirmed in Basingstoke & Deane, bringing the overall total in the pandemic to 7,799. 136 cases were diagnosed in the week to February 20, with a rate per 100,000 of 77.0. This is significantly below the English average of 118.3.

10 people had Covid-19 listed as the cause of death on their death certificate in the borough in the week to February 12, bringing the total to 288. 547,463 vaccines have been given across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, including first and second doses, which is an increase of 68,402 from the past week.