Chris White
- Credit: Chris White
We meet the candidates from the Liberal Democrats standing for election at county and district level on May 6.
County council candidates
John Hale
- Credit: John Hale
It has been my honour to serve the residents of Colney Heath and Marshalswick as their county councillor for the last four years. This is the neighbourhood I have lived in for over 20 years and have served as a Sandridge parish councillor for 14 years.
The role of a councillor should be to work with residents to improve their neighbourhood for everybody. I am particularly concerned about the environment and protecting the green spaces that have proved so valuable during the last year.
But demand for serious hospital treatment remains high.
The number of coronavirus patients who had to be hooked up to mechanical ventilation was at its highest in mid and late January, peaking at 49.
By mid-February it had dropped to roughly half of that figure, but then it stopped decreasing.
On February 16, there were 24 COVID-19 patients being ventilated.
A week later, despite overall hospital cases falling, the number of patients on ventilation rose to 25.
The number of patients in intensive care – also known as adult critical care – also peaked in late January, hitting 64 on the last day of the month.
By February 14, it was down to 41. But by February 21, it was up again to 46.
However, the number of intensive care beds occupied went up.
On February 16, there were 274 coronavirus patients across four NHS trusts: East and North Herts, West Herts, Herts Partnership and Herts Community.
A week earlier, on February 9, there had been 370. That meant the number fell by 26 per cent in a week.
The number of deaths recorded in the county also fell. Preliminary figures showed 67 coronavirus deaths in the week up to February 16, compared to 92 the week before.
In mid-January there were more than 200 per week.
However, intensive care occupancy is not following the same trend.
Last week, we reported that the number of adult critical care beds occupied in the county had fallen by over 37 per cent, from 64 on January 31, to 40 on February 7.