NO further deaths related to Covid-19 have been reported to have occurred at hospitals in Southend and Basildon.

Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Southend Hospital, has not recorded the death of a patient diagnosed with coronavirus since last Tuesday, July 7.

The total number of deaths recorded at the hospital stands at 243.

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Basildon Hospital, has not recorded the death of a patient diagnosed with Covid-19 since Saturday, July 4.

This means the total number of deaths recorded at Basildon Hospital is 305.

NHS England reported the deaths of 4 patients diagnosed with Covid-19 in the East of England within its daily announcement.

The figures record deaths against the date they happened, rather than the date the deaths were announced.

NHS England revealed a further 15 people who tested positive for the virus have died across the country, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals in England to 29,066.

The patients were aged between 72 and 96 years old, and all but one 96-year old patient, had known underlying health conditions.

New figures of cases by local authority show there have been a recorded 6,642 cases in Essex, up from a total of 6,590 recorded on Friday.

Of the total, 5,423 cases were recorded in the Essex County Council authority area, 670 in Southend and 549 in Thurrock.  In the UK 289,603 people have now tested positive and 44,819 of those who have tested positive have died.