THE number of coronavirus patients in Gwent hospitals is continuing to fall.

With lockdown in its seventh week in Wales, the impact is starting to be seen in hospitals, the figures show.

For the third week running, there has been a drop in the number of hospital patients in the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area with either confirmed or suspected coronavirus, or recovering from the virus.

On average, the daily number of coronavirus patients in hospitals in the region this week was 532.

That is down from 577 last week, and 610 the week before.

While on average this week there were 32 people with suspected or confirmed coronavirus admitted to hospital in Gwent each day.

 

This chart shows how the number of people hospitalised with coronavirus in Gwent has changed over the last two months

That is almost a third (32 per cent) of the average daily number admitted across Wales this week.

And on January 31, the new admissions in Gwent made up almost half of the total number in Wales.

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The average number of daily admissions in Wales last week was 100, down from 115 the previous week.

While the average number of people in hospital with coronavirus each day was 2525, down from 2,701.

 

This chart shows how the number of people hospitalised with coronavirus in Wales has changed over the last two months

However, despite the recent fall, pressure on the NHS in Wales remains high.

And health care professionals across the country have spoken up of the abuse they are facing online whilst having to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Doctors who share coronavirus updates from their South Wales hospitals are being sworn at on social media, called "liars" and "killers", and being likened to Nazi genetic scientists.

Dr Ami Jones, intensive care consultant at Gwent's new Grange University Hospital, said she had received "vicious" messages online calling for her to be "struck off" or "rounded up and put in prison".

She told Channel 4 her nursing team had been "devastated" by false online claims that health workers were lying about coronavirus.

"They couldn't believe that they're breaking their back and killing themselves to try and keep these patients going, and people are turning around and saying we're lying... and that Covid doesn't exist," Dr Jones said.