THE ‘red alert’ status for Andover hospital has been deescalated to ‘amber’ as the number of Covid-19 patients has fallen to zero.

As previously reported, Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust (HHFT) put Andover hospital on ‘red alert’ in January following a surge in Covid-19 patients.

The trust also moved Winchester and Basingstoke hospitals to ‘black alert’ – the highest alert level.

Hospitals usually declare a ‘black alert’ when they are under such significant pressure that they cannot ‘deliver comprehensive care’ and patient care is at risk.

However, HHFT said the alert system is internal and refers only to Covid patients, not the wider care of other hospital patients.

Papers prepared for the trust’s board of directors meeting this month state that as the number of Covid-19 patients continues to fall, it has “been able to de-escalate our local Covid alert levels from black to red” at Basingstoke hospital, and from red to amber at Winchester and Andover hospitals.

At the time the report was written, the trust was caring for 22 Covid patients, with 14 at Basingstoke hospital, eight at Winchester and none at Andover.

Alex Whitfield, chief executive of the trust, said in her report to the board of directors: “The recent pattern of admissions are showing some early encouraging signs of vaccine impact – fewer patients aged 70+ are being admitted.

“As well as fewer Covid-19 positive patients on our wards, critical care activity is back to usual levels with a very small number of Covid-19 patients requiring intensive care.

“Staff redeployed to critical care have returned to their usual roles, and 1:1 nursing has resumed in critical care.

“As cases reduce, we continue to remind everyone to follow all infection prevention and control guidance at home and at work to reduce the risk of transmission.”

The trust held a virtual reflection service for staff on March 10 to mark one year since its first Covid-19 patient was admitted.