More than half of Covid hospitalisations are patients who tested positive AFTER admission, leaked data reveals

MORE than half of covid hospitalisations are patients who tested positive after they were admitted.

Leaked data has revealed that the majority of the patients who were classed as being hospitalised with Covid-19 were initially admitted for a different reason.

The figures show that the patients were eventually diagnosed with Covid through routine testing that is required for everyone admitted to the hospital.

The leaked data, seen by the Telegraph, show that, as of last Thursday, just 44 per cent of patients classed as being hospitalised with Covid had tested positive before they were admitted while in the 56 percent Covid was detected after their admission.

Additionally, according to figures, out of 780 hospitalisations dated last Thursday, 44 per cent involved people who tested positive within two weeks before entering the hospital.

A further 43 per cent tested positive within two days of admission, and 13 per cent after admission.

Experts told the outlet that the evidence suggests that a vast number of patients were admitted for other reasons.

Prof Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, said: “This data is incredibly important, and it should be published on an ongoing basis. 

“When people hear about hospitalisations with Covid, they will assume that Covid is the likely cause, but this data shows something quite different – this is about Covid being detected after tests were looking for it.”

An NHS spokesman said: “Many patients are admitted to hospital because of their Covid symptoms and complications, which are then confirmed with a post-admission Covid test, and for others, they may initially be presymptomatic or asymptomatic.”

It comes as last week Covid hospitalisations rose by 44 per cent in a fortnight with a total of 752 people being admitted to hospital on July 19.

However, cases have dropped for the sixth day in a row with a further 24,950 people testing positive today.

Latest figures show that a total of 37,287,384 people in the UK have received both doses of the Covid vaccine so far.

As of July 25, 46,589,211 first doses had been given.