MORE than half of covid hospitalisations are patients who tested positive after they were admitted, it has been reported.
Leaked data suggests the majority of patients classed as being hospitalised with Covid-19 were initially admitted for different ailments.
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Data reveals more than half Covid hospitalisations tested positive after admission Credit: EPA
Figures show patients were eventually diagnosed with Covid through routine testing that is required for everyone admitted to the hospital.
The data, covering all NHS trusts in England, suggests that as of last Thursday, just 44 per cent of Covid patients had tested positive by the time they were admitted, the Telegraph reports.
The majority of cases were not detected until the standard Covid tests were carried out.
Fifty six per cent of Covid hospitalisations fell into this category, the data suggests.
The NHS has been told to provide "a breakdown of the current stock of Covid patients" by separating those in hospital for the virus and those for other reasons, the Telegraph reports.
However, bosses have not yet revealed the data.
But the leaked figures suggest the majority of patients may have been admitted for other ailments.
The breakdown of daily Covid hospital diagnoses shows that out of 780 hospitalisations last Thursday, 44 per cent involved people who tested positive within two weeks before they entered hospital.
A further 43 per cent tested positive within two days of admission, and 13 per cent after admission.
Experts claimed the evidence suggests 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.
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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.
UK Covid daily cases drop for sixth day in a row with 24,950 infections and 14 deaths