Coronavirus: Seventeen more deaths recorded at King's Lynn hospital

The total death toll related to coronavirus at Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital has now passed 250, following the publication of new data this afternoon.

A further 17 patients are now known to have died at the Gayton Road site after testing positive for the infection, according to the latest figures from NHS England.

That takes the total death toll at the hospital since the start of the pandemic to 257, with 54 of them being recorded this week.

On Wednesday, 37 deaths were added to the data after delays in recording cases were uncovered. Hospital bosses say measures have been put in place to prevent similar problems occurring again.

Of the latest deaths, all but three occurred between New Year's Day and January 5, the last day on which a patient death is currently recorded.

The other three cases added to the figures were on December 14, December 19 and New Year's Eve respectively.

Although the overall infection rate in West Norfolk has started to fall, raising hopes that the new lockdown is slowing the spread of the illness, health officials have warned that hospitals and other services will remain under severe pressure for several more weeks yet.

There are currently 202 coronavirus patients being treated at the QEH.