Four more people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in hospitals in Suffolk with another 288 deaths across the UK.

Latest government figures show four people, all in their 80s, lost their lives at Ipswich hospital having tested positive for Covid-19.

Nick Hulme, chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust said: “We can confirm that four patients, all in their 80s, who all had underlying health conditions, have sadly passed away at Ipswich Hospital. They had all tested positive for COVID-19.

“Our thoughts and condolences remain with the patients’ families and loved ones at this difficult time.”

There were no coronavirus-related deaths reported at Colchester hospital today.

The local figures came as health secretary Matt Hancock revealed that a further 288 people have died with coronavirus across all settings in the UK. This is the lowest number of daily deaths since the end of March.

However, Mr Hancock said that this number was likely to rise due to delays in reporting deaths over the weekend.

Nationally a total of 190,584 have tested positive for Covid-19 and 28,734 have died.

In total, 263 people have now died at Colchester and Ipswich Hospital since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, with one death reported at Aldeburgh Hospital.

A further 42 people have died at West Suffolk Hospital and 89 at James Paget Hospital.

There has also been one death at Clacton Hospital, two deaths at Beccles Hospital, one death at Aldeburgh Hospital and one death at the region’s mental health trust, the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

Despite these figures, it is widely understood that the death toll from coronavirus across the UK is likely to be higher.

It has also been reported that deaths in care homes could see the total number of deaths related to the virus rise significantly.

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