Death toll in city’s hospitals up by 24

MORE than 20 coronavirus-related deaths were announced by Leicester’s hospitals yesterday.

A patient in their 50s was one of 24 patients who died after testing positive for Covid-19.

The deaths mean that the total number of people to die with coronavirus in the city’s hospital wards since the pandemic began now stands at 508.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said that the patients who had died were aged between their 50s and 90s.

A spokesman for the trust, which runs Leicester Royal Infirmary and the General and Glenfield hospitals, said: “Sadly, we can confirm that 508 patients being cared for at our hospitals, and who had tested positive for Covid-19, have died.

“Twenty-four of those deaths have been announced since Wednesday last week.”

While the announcement covers the period from the previous announcement to yesterday, reporting delays mean some of those deaths could have occurred before November 4.

Last week, 13 coronavirus-related deaths were confirmed by the trust.

The latest information available to the Mercury shows that more than 150 patients currently in Leicester’s hospitals have tested positive for coronavirus, with some being treated on intensive care wards.

The UK’s official coronavirus death toll has passed 50,000 after 595 new deaths were confirmed yesterday, with 361 of them in England.