The number of people being admitted to hospitals across the South East with Covid-19 is “starting to rise significantly”.

That was the message from Meradin Peachey, director at Public Health Berkshire, who said the recent spike in cases “will turn into increased hospital admissions within the next two weeks”.

“The NHS are not looking forward to the next couple of weeks,” she said.

“But even though hospital admissions are starting to rise significantly, a lot lower percentage are ending up in ICU because the treatments are working and there’s a lot lower death rate from Covid this time.”

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The South East has been hit with Tier 4 restrictions following a significant rise in cases, which may have been caused by a new variant of the virus that is believed to be more infectious but not more deadly.

Public health experts do not know if that variant has reached Berkshire yet, but each area of the county has seen a sharp increase in cases since the national lockdown ended on December 2.

The number of Covid-19 patients at Royal Berkshire Hospital is rising but staff are “managing them safely and separately from other patients”, said acting chief executive Nicky Lloyd.

According to the latest NHS figures, the day after the national lockdown ended (December 3) 62 beds at Royal Berkshire Hospital were occupied by Covid-19 patients and 16 of those patients were on ventilators.

The number of occupied beds at the hospital peaked on April 27, when it reached 153.

The figures also show 39 people were admitted with Covid-19 or diagnosed with the virus at the hospital between December 7 and December 13.

Ms Lloyd said: “Tier 4 travel restrictions for Berkshire do not affect services at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

“We are open for business as usual and it’s important that, if you have an appointment booked, or need emergency treatment, you still attend as planned.

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“We are seeing a rise in the number of patients who are testing positive with Covid but, as with the first wave earlier this year, we are managing them safely and separately from other patients, so the hospital is a safe place for you to attend for treatments or appointments.

“However, the introduction of Tier 4 restrictions, coupled with the increase in Covid positive patients, shows we must all do everything we can to prevent the risk of spreading the virus.

“It’s vital for you to abide by the ‘hands, face, space’ rules, along with other Tier 4 regulations.

“Whilst it’s important for us to continue seeing patients, we must also limit the footfall to the hospital site.

“This means that visiting restrictions will remain in place and visits will only be allowed during exceptional circumstances, by prior agreement with your ward sister.”