A FURTHER six deaths linked to Covid-19 have been recorded at the trust which runs Colchester Hospital.

It takes the total number of fatalities to occur at the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust to 641.

NHS data released today (Sunday, January 10) shows five of the newly announced deaths happened on Friday, with the other occurring yesterday.

Across the whole of Essex, 36 Covid-related deaths have been announced today.

There were 17 at Southend Hospital, six at the trusts running Harlow and Broomfield hospitals, and one at the Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death.

This means some of the deaths that were first recorded in the latest period may actually have taken place days earlier.

NHS England guidance states: "Confirmation of Covid-19 diagnosis, death notification and reporting in central figures can take up to several days and the hospitals providing the data are under significant operational pressure."

Only deaths that occur in hospitals where the patient has tested positive for Covid-19 are recorded, with deaths in the community excluded, such as those in care homes.