Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients reported as being covid-19 patients in intensive care have (a) had a positive covid-19 test result, (b) respiratory symptoms and (c) both, by (i) hospital trust and (ii) English region.

Based on data from 15 March 2020 to week ending 1 November 2020 submitted to Public Health England’s Severe Acute Respiratory Infection-Watch, 30% of new admissions for acute respiratory infection (ARI) to any ward, including intensive care units, (ICU) and high dependency units (HDU), in hospitals in England had a laboratory confirmed COVID-19 test.

Over the same time period, 42% of new admissions to ICU/HDU for ARI had a laboratory confirmed COVID-19 test.

Further information on ICU/HDU admission rates by region and by trust in the weekly surveillance reports is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports