78 more coronavirus deaths confirmed in region's care homes
Another 78 coronavirus deaths in care homes have been confirmed across the Black Country, Staffordshire and Birmingham.
Updated figures have now been released confirming the extra deaths, which occurred between April and July but have only been announced by the Office for National Statistics today.
It means 687 people have died with Covid-19 in care homes across the region since the pandemic began, with 271 deaths in the Black Country, 227 in Staffordshire and 189 in Birmingham.
There were no new care home deaths in the Black Country or Birmingham in the week up to July 17 - the latest figures available.
However the new figures reveal an extra 14 care home deaths in Walsall, eight in Dudley, eight in Sandwell and four in Wolverhampton. There have also been an extra 24 in Staffordshire and 20 in Birmingham.
It means so far 95 people have died with the virus in Walsall, 70 people in Wolverhampton, 59 in Dudley and 47 in Sandwell.
Despite the new registered deaths, the rate has slowed massively since the peak of the pandemic when Covid-19 was sweeping through care homes.
There has not been a confirmed coronavirus death at a care home in the Black Country since July 6 in Walsall. The most recent death in Staffordshire was on July 13.
Meanwhile no new coronavirus deaths were reported in the region's hospitals today. It means the death toll in hospitals across the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire remains at 2,540.
The UK-wide death toll released by the Government, which includes deaths in and out of hospitals, increased by 110 to 45,422 today.
