Over two thirds of COVID-positive inpatients across United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT) have been discharged since the pandemic started.

As of February 16, ULHT has seen a total of 2,754 COVID-positive inpatients across its hospitals since the start of the pandemic. 1,874 have been discharged, 748 have died and 132 are in other groups.

Andrew Morgan, Chief Executive of ULHT, said in Lincolnshire County Council's Health Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday: "There are some other groupings, which I won't go through because they're much more detailed, so if you're trying to get those figures to add up to 2,754, they won't. But they're just the high level figures."

He added: "If you go back to wave one, the maximum we got then was 104 COVID inpatients at any one time, and that was back in April. For wave two, we reached 253 in early December."

February 16 saw numbers lower to 85 COVID inpatients, 56 at Lincoln and 29 at Pilgrim hospitals.

Grantham Hospital does not treat Covid-19 patients as it is classed as a 'green site' free of such infection so it can focus on non-Covid treatments like cancers.

Some 20 people are currently in intensive care at ULHT hospitals as of February 17.

Andrew Morgan reiterated: "These are not all elderly patients who are in intensive care with COVID. There are some younger patients and as a man of 58, there are people younger than me in intensive care at the moment."

ULHT are having to move staff from around their sites to support intensive care – a national as well as local position.

Mr Morgan added that "bed occupancy, which is a bit of a rough and ready calculation is up 90% sort of level," but expressed "some caution about bed occupancy figures."

In terms of staff absences at ULHT, December saw around 14% of NHS staff off sick, with 7% of them being COVID-related. This total has now halved to 7% in total being off sick – "a much improved position".

Job offers have been made to over 200 healthcare support workers as well as 120 overseas recruits.