74 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Suffolk - and 213 in Essex

More than 1,000 people have now died of coronavirus and the UK remains in lockdown as part of efforts to beat the disease. Picture: ANDREW MILLIGAN/PA

Cases in the county rose by 13 in the past 24 hours, the latest government figures have revealed.

In the NHS region of East of England the figures rose by more than 200 in the same period, from 796 to 1,001 confirmed cases.

In Essex there are currently 213 recorded cases, 90 in Norfolk and 85 in Cambridgeshire.

The Department for Health said that nationally in the last 24 hours there have been 2,546 new cases and 260 deaths.

National Medical Director at NHS England Stephen Powis and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Alok Sharma answering questions at the media briefing in Downing Street. Picture: Pippa Fowles/Crown Copyright/10 Downing Street/PA Wire

This takes the total number of recorded cases to 17,089, from which 1,019 people have died.

To date, four people have died at Colchester Hospital and three at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds,

Colchester Hospital confirmed on Friday that two people, one in their late 70s and one in their late 50s, who both had underlying health conditions, had died after contracting coronavirus.

The two deaths followed an announcement on Wednesday that two other people aged in their 80s had died from coronavirus at the Essex hospital.

At West Suffolk Hospital, 80-year-old Mr Pat Bewley, of Stowupland, near Stowmarket, became the third patient to die after contracting coronavirus.

Mr Bewley, who had underlying heart disease, died on Tuesday after being admitted last Sunday.

Jane Jay, an Ixworth grandmother of five, was the first Suffolk resident to lose their life to the virus, on March 24 aged 75.

MORE: Tributes to first Suffolk coronavirus victimThe death of a second patient, who has not yet been named, was announced by the hospital on March 26.

Nationally, more than 120,000 coronavirus tests have now taken place, with more than 17,000 positive results, the Department of Health said.

During the Government’s daily televised press conference today Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said: “Clearly there has been a big increase in deaths today.”

But he echoed the words of Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government’s chief scientific adviser, saying: “If we can keep deaths below 20,000 we will have done very well in this epidemic.”

The latest figures come after Scottish Secretary Alister Jack revealed he had developed mild symptoms of coronavirus and was self-isolating.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is already having to lead the response to the pandemic from isolation in Downing Street after he was diagnosed with the disease.

He has been accused of failing to follow his own social distancing rules after Health Secretary and West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock tested positive and England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty began self-isolating with symptoms.

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