Seven more die as region sees biggest rise in daily death toll
A TOTAL OF 37 EAST YORKSHIRE COVID-19 PATIENTS HAVE NOW DIED
SEVEN more people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 in East Yorkshire - which is the biggest rise in daily figures to date.
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, yesterday said that the total has now risen to 37.
The ages of the victims, or whether they had any underlying health conditions, has not been confirmed.
But the trust also insists the leap in deaths does not represent a sudden rise overnight, but rather they are cases that have been confirmed following postmortem examinations on patients who may have died up to two weeks ago.
NHS England has recorded when the seven latest deaths announced took place. The first was recorded just over two weeks ago on April 1 while three died on April 13 and a further three on April 14.
The worst days so far were April 5 and Easter Monday when five deaths were recorded on each day. The figures could still change if and when further deaths are confirmed as relating to Covid-19.
A spokesman for the trust said: “Sadly, we can confirm that since March 19, 37 patients have died at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust after testing positive for Covid-19.
“The figure now includes some patients who were suspected of having Covid-19 before their deaths.
“Post mortem results now confirm the presence of the virus and the deaths of these patients have been reported to NHS England under the Death Notification Process for Covid-19.
“Please note this does not represent an overnight or sudden increase in deaths at either Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital as some of these patients may have died more than two weeks ago.
“The families of all patients have been informed and our deepest sympathies are with them at this very difficult time.
“We will continue to announce further deaths of patients testing positive for Covid-19, but will only release further details about these patients at the request of their families.”
The latest figures show another 49 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Hull and the East Riding, taking the total to 447.
The data released by Public Health England yesterday shows there has been an increase of almost 25 per cent on the number of cases in East Yorkshire compared with the figures released on Wednesday.
NHS England yesterday announced 740 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 12,396.
Of the new deaths announced:
151 occurred on April 15
314 occurred on April 14
122 occurred on April 13
The figures also show 143 of the deaths took place between April 1 and April 12, and the remaining ten deaths occurred in March, with the earliest new death taking place on March 9.
A total of 13,729 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Wednesday, the Department of Health said, up by 861 from 12,868.