Latest figures show seven new coronavirus deaths at West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust

There have been seven new coronavirus deaths at the West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust over the past 24 hours, the latest official figures show.

NHS England figures show 309 people had died in hospital at the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust as of 5pm on Tuesday, May 5.

Of 23 trusts within the region, the West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust, which manages Hemel Hempstead Hospital, Watford General Hospital and St Albans City Hospital, has the highest death toll.

There have been 125 coronavirus deaths at East and North Hertfordshire Trust and nine at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and eight at the Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust.

Office for National statistics (ONS) data shows that in Dacorum, 84 deaths involving Covid-19 were provisionally registered up to May 2.

This only includes deaths that occurred up to April 24 which were registered up to eight days later. Of those, 17 occurred in care homes and three at private homes. A further death occurred in a hospice, another community establishment or elsewhere.

It means at least 21 Covid-19-related deaths in Dacorum occurred outside hospital up to May 2.

ONS figures are based on where Covid-19 is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, including in combination with other health conditions.

The figures released from Public Health England show that there are 23 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Hertfordshire in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 2,434.

But the true number of cases is thought to be far higher with many people not being tested.

Nationally, the number of coronavirus cases now stands at 201,101 (includes tests carried out by commercial partners which are not included in the country totals), rising by 6,111. The number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths has been recorded as 30,076, rising by 649 - according to Public Health England.

The number of deaths are people who have had a positive test result confirmed by a Public Health or NHS laboratory.

The figures for the number of patients recovered from COVID-19 have not been released by Public Health England.

The new figures were recorded between 5pm on Monday and 5pm on Tuesday.