There have been a total of 36 Covid admissions at our hospitals in Suffolk and Essex over the past week.

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust had 30 patients treated for coronavirus at its Ipswich and Colchester Hospitals from July 11 to July 18.

This marks an increase of 76.5% compared to the previous seven days, when there were 14 admitted into east Suffolk and north Essex hospitals.

An additional six were also admitted to West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust Hospital in Bury St Edmunds as Covid cases rise.

Two patients are on mechanical ventilation at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust and none at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

A total of 18 Covid patients were admitted in a seven day average up until July 18 at Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals with four during the same period on average at the Bury St Edmunds hospital.

Deaths have also increased with four deaths within 28 days of a positive test in Suffolk, compared to none the previous week, up until May 21. Essex also saw a rise with four Covid deaths this week to three last week in the county.

Deputy chief executive of ESNEFT Neill Moloney, has already warned "the link" between deaths, hospitalitsations and cases of Covid has not been "completley broken" by vaccinations.

“Anyone who hasn’t yet been vaccinated yet should get their jab as soon as they can,” added Mr Moloney.

In the week to the 20 July 2021 there were 2,139 new cases of COVID-19 in Suffolk. The underlying rate of new weekly cases in Suffolk has increased and is now at 217.8 cases per 100,000 people. This rate is lower than the rate for the East of England region, at 375, and the rate for England as a whole, 473.3.

The news comes as a record number of people were told to isolate in "pingdemic" by the NHS Covid-19 app when more than 600,000 alerts were sent to users in a week, figures suggested.

NHS figures showed 618,903 alerts were sent to users of the coronavirus app in England and Wales in the week to July 14, telling them they had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus.