THERE were no coronavirus patients at the county’s intensive care units for the first time in nearly 100 days, the department has announced.

The Worcestershire Acute Intensive Care department announced via Twitter yesterday: “Who knows what the future holds, but for the moment we don’t have Covid-19 on our intensive care units for the first time in nearly 100 days.”

Dr Edwin Mitchell, medical director for patient safety and quality improvement specialised clinical services at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We’re pleased that currently none of our intensive care patients are suffering from Covid-19.

“We regularly screen our patients for the virus that causes Covid-19 in accordance with NHS advice, and all of our patients are returning negative tests.

“Despite this good news, we remain vigilant for any new cases, and remain ready to respond if needed.”

Earlier this month, the unit announced its consultants were standing down their emergency shift rota and returning to more normal working patterns.

Another tweet said: “After 12 weeks our consultants are standing down their emergency shift rota and going back to more normal work patterns. Enormous thanks to them all for rising to this challenge.

“This is not the end of the #COVID19 journey for us though. Work to be done to prepare for any second wave, perhaps in combination with ‘flu.

“We’ve still got Covid-19 to deal with to be sure, we’ll still be in PPE, and we’ll always be ready to respond.”

Victor McCleary spent 30 days in the ICU at Worcestershire Royal after contracting coronavirus but left hospital earlier this week.

The father-of-two from Worcester said: “I recovered remarkably quickly, and now all things considered I am doing really well.

“I take my hat off to the staff at the hospital, they went above and beyond for me and are the reason I am still here today.”