A&E attendance in England has fallen to a record low as people stay away from hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic, figures show.
Data published by NHS England shows 900,000 attendances were recorded in April 2020, down 57% from 2.1 million in April 2019.
The number is the lowest for any calendar month since current records began in August 2010.
NHS England, which published the figures, said the fall was “likely to be a result of the Covid-19 response”, an indication that people have been avoiding A&E departments because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Data also shows the number of patients waiting to start treatment at the end of March was 4.2 million, down from 4.4 million in the previous month.
The UK lockdown was announced on 23 March.
Separate figures from NHS England show the volume of calls to the NHS 111 service in April were up slightly on the same month in 2019, after a surge in March. An average of 55,200 calls a day were made in April 2020, 14% higher than the average of 48,400 a day in April 2019.
This compares with an average of 95,600 calls a day in March 2020 – more than double the average for March 2019.
NHS England said 111 service levels had been heavily affected by increased demand caused by coronavirus, but figures so far for May showed a return to call volumes only slightly higher than the demand expected at this time of year.
