35 more coronavirus patients die in hospitals across the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire
A further 35 coronavirus patients have died at hospitals in the Black Country, Birmingham and Staffordshire.
The deaths announced today mean that 3,810 people have now died in the region's hospitals after contracting Covid-19.
A further 29 people have also died with coronavirus in care homes across the region in the last week.
At least 770 people have died in care homes with Covid since the pandemic began, although the true figure is likely to be higher as care home deaths have only been recorded since April 10.
Two deaths were recorded at the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell General and City hospitals, where the death toll reached 567.
Two patients also died at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Russells Hall Hospital, where the total increased to 374.
Two more deaths were confirmed at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross and Cannock Chase hospitals, where the death toll now stands at 384.
And a further 12 deaths were confirmed at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs County Hospital in Stafford and Royal Stoke University Hospital, taking the coronavirus death toll there to 648.
Seven deaths were announced at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Walsall Manor Hospital, where 359 people have died.
And 10 deaths were announced at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Queen Elizabeth, Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull hospitals, where the total stands at 1,386.
UK death toll passes 60,000
The UK’s death toll from Covid-19 has now passed 60,000 – less than a month after it passed the 50,000 milestone.
The Government said on Thursday that a further 414 people had died with 28 days of testing positive for the virus.
The official figure for total deaths now stands at 60,113.
But the true figure could be significantly higher.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, coupled with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 76,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
These figures are based on deaths where coronavirus is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate while the Government’s data counts only those people who died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Despite the grim milestone, there is a sliver of good news as both transmission rates and death rates appear to be falling.
The Government said that, as of 9am on Thursday, there had been a further 14,879 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK – a drop of 16.9% compared to the previous week.
It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 1,674,134.
The number of hospital admissions for coronavirus patients had fallen by 13.9%, while deaths had declined by 5.3% over the last seven days.
The death toll exceeded 50,000 on November 11 when a further 595 people were reported to have died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus.
At the time, there were 65,000 mortalities in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
