Preston's Critical Care has no Covid cases for first time in 7 months

For the first time in seven months the unit revealed this week it is no longer treating any patients with the virus .

But, although the news suggests the pandemic is declining rapidly in Central Lancashire, there are still a number of less serious cases in hospital and medics are worried about the illness taking hold again.

The Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust has opted not to comment, even though the decline in the number of seriously ill patients over recent weeks has been dramatic.

While bosses of the Trust and of NHS England are privately delighted the virus appears to be in retreat, they are still cautious about giving out a wrong message which could lead the lockdown-weary public to letting their guard down and sparking another surge.

The Critical Care team’s relief at discharging their last remaining Covid patient was palpable in a tweet put out on Wednesday night. It said: “Tonight our unit is Covid free for the first time since September.”

It went on: “A huge thank you to our amazing team” which included medics, the Critical Care outreach team, ICU therapy staff and staff redeployed from other parts of the hospital “who we couldn’t have managed without.”

And it added: “We will never forget those that didn’t return home to loved ones.”

Scores of comments, many from NHS workers, praised the work of the Critical Care team. Some even admitted reading the message had reduced them to tears.