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

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

NHS England figures show 279 people had died in hospital at the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust as of 5pm on Thursday, April 30.

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 112 coronavirus deaths at East and North Hertfordshire Trust and eight at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and seven at the Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust.

Office for National statistics data shows that in Dacorum, 60 deaths involving Covid-19 were provisionally registered up to April 25 – up from 39 the week before.

This only includes deaths that occurred up to April 17 which were registered up to eight days later. Of those, 11 occurred in care homes and three at private homes. A further death occurred in hospices, another community establishment or elsewhere.

This is because ONS figures include all mentions of Covid-19 on a death certificate, including suspected cases, as well as deaths in the community, whereas the main government figures are based on the deaths of hospital patients who tested positive for the virus.

The figures released from Public Health England show that there are 28 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hertfordshire in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 2,243.

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 177,454 (includes tests carried out by commercial partners which are not included in the country totals), rising by 6,201. The number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths has been recorded as 27,510, rising by 739 - 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 true extent of infection among the wider public, who have no access to testing kits, is as yet unknown.

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 Wednesday and 5pm on Thursday.