Coronavirus: 26 new deaths recorded at King's Lynn hospital
A further 26 people are now known to have died with coronavirus at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, according to official figures released yesterday.
Although the most recent recorded fatality occurred last Tuesday, May 3, official NHS figures showed the cases dated back several weeks – in some instances to late March.
A total of 21 deaths were listed in the daily figures given for Saturday, published on Monday, with a further five in the data for Sunday.
Hospital officials said the issue had been caused by staff sickness which led to a backlog in death certificates being issued.
The total Covid-related death toll at the QEH since the start of the pandemic now stands at 646, compared with 888 at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and 538 at the James Paget in Gorleston.
Forty-eight patients were admitted to the QEH with Covid in the week to last Sunday, May 1, down two on the previous week.
Latest government figures, for the week to Friday, May 6, showed 10 people had died in West Norfolk within 28 days of a positive Covid test – up three on the previous seven day period.
But the borough’s overall infection rate is still falling, though more slowly than in recent weeks.
A total of 182 cases were recorded in the seven days to Friday, around five per cent lower than the previous week.
But the number of tests being carried out in West Norfolk is continuing to fall sharply, with 5,610 conducted during the week to Thursday, 1,853 fewer than in the previous week.
Nearly seven in 10 of the borough’s residents aged 12 or over have also had a booster vaccine, according to the latest figures.
A total of 118 booster jabs were administered in the borough during the week to Thursday, along with 72 second jabs and eight first doses.
And around one in seven borough residents still remain unprotected against Covid-19, more than two years after the pandemic began.
Elsewhere, four deaths within 28 days of a positive test were recorded in Breckland during the latest weekly figures, down four, while infections were down by more than 18 per cent to 178.
Meanwhile, week-on-week cases in North Norfolk were down by more than 40 per cent to 117.
Three new deaths were recorded in the district, down by three on the previous week’s total.
