Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: West Yorkshire to move into tier 3 as 10,000 people confirmed in hopsital with Covid

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It is thought nearly a fifth of England will soon be under the toughest coronavirus restrictions as the number of patients in hospital continues to rise.

Nottinghamshire entered tier 3 on Friday morning, while West Yorkshire will move up to the highest alert level from Monday.

It will take the total number of people in the highest level of restrictions to just over 11 million - 19.6 per cent of the population.

Here’s the coronavirus news you may have missed overnight:

West Yorkshire will move into coronavirus tier 3 on Monday

The region will be moving into a tier 3 local lockdown, regional politicians have announced amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

Some 2 million people in Leeds, Wakefield, Kirklees, Calderdale, Bradford will all move into the most severe of the government’s classifications for regional restrictions from 12.01am on Monday.

The lockdown will see hospitality businesses close and a ban enforced on household mixing in all settings, following in the footsteps of cities like Liverpool and Manchester to join the 8 million people in England currently under the “very high” rating set by central government.

In a joint statement, leaders of West Yorkshire councils said: “Over recent days, we have had a number of meetings with government ministers to discuss the next steps for controlling the rising Covid-19 infection rates across the region.

“Today, with great reluctance, we have accepted that West Yorkshire will now move into tier 3 (very high) restrictions as of 00.01am on Monday 2nd November.”

10,000 UK patients now in hospital with Covid-19

More than 10,000 Covid-19 patients are now being treated in UK hospitals — with nearly 1,000 of them on ventilators, according to the latest daily figures from No 10.

The number has risen in recent days but is yet to reach the 20,000 seen at the height of the first wave of the pandemic earlier this year.

Figures have however continued to grow beyond those seen during the first peak in some regions. Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust had the highest number of beds occupied by coronavirus patients in England on Tuesday at 450, according to new NHS England data — followed by Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust in Greater Manchester which had 290.

In Nottinghamshire, which has been subject to tier 2 lockdown restrictions, before going into tier 3 overnight on Thursday, the number of hospitalisations is 40 per cent higher than those seen in April.

The county’s public health director Jonathan Gribbin said “even a well-organised NHS and care system will struggle to cope” with the sharp rise in patients in the county’s hospitals.

Delays in discharging patients adds pressure on hospitals amid coronavirus second wave

Delays in discharging patients from hospitals is making pressure on the NHS from the second wave of coronavirus worse, hospital chiefs have warned.

Some hospitals are already reporting almost all of their beds are full with patients as the number of coronavirus cases continues to surge with more patients needing hospital care every day.

Doctors have told The Independent the lack of discharges means fewer beds are free and some hospitals are seeing long waits in A&E for beds to become available.

NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson said: “Some of our chief executives are saying they are seeing bed occupancy levels of 92, 93, 94 per cent at the end of October when they would normally expect these to be 86, 87, 88 per cent.

“Given where we are in terms of the winter cycle, and the fact we are not really at the beginning of winter yet, that is a worry.”

Women’s expertise disregarded in ‘media reportage of coronavirus crisis’

Women’s voices and expertise have been marginalised and disregarded in press coverage of the Covid-19 emergency, a new study has found.

The report, carried out by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, found just a third of people quoted in articles about the coronavirus crisis were women.

Researchers analysed the gender balance of leading experts referred to in reportage of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and economics stories linked to the public health crisis.

Only five per cent of well-known STEM experts mentioned were women — for each mention of a prominent female STEM expert in an article, there were 19 references to their male counterparts.

Laura Jones, research associate at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, said: “Men’s voices dominate in almost every category of media coverage related to the coronavirus crisis and every topic analysed in this study, with the exception of what are often seen as ‘women’s issues’, such as childcare.”

NHS leak shows London hospitals starting to feel second wave pressure

The number of coronavirus patients admitted to London hospitals jumped by almost 10 per cent earlier this week as the capital begins to feel the pressure from the second wave.

Leaked NHS assessments of the situation show some of London’s hospitals already have more than 10 per cent of their beds occupied with coronavirus patients.

Earlier this week the numbers being admitted jumped 8 per cent in a 24-hour period, sparking fears among NHS managers that the capital could start to see rapid increases in the coming days.

An Imperial College London study has also warned the R rate of transmission for the virus in London is 2.86, the highest level in England. This could mean the number of infected people may be doubling every three to four days.

There were 791 coronavirus patients admitted to hospital in London, according to the leaked data seen by The Independent across London on Tuesday.