THE trust running Colchester Hospital has recorded its first coronavirus death in 17 days.

One patient died at the East Suffolk and North Essex Trust on Friday according to data published this afternoon.

It is the first death at the trust since July 14.

It brings the death toll at the trust to 354 since the outbreak began.

The death was one of six announced by NHS England in its latest data which is up to 4pm on Monday.

To date 730 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Colchester.

In Tendring the figure sits at 652.

It comes as the overall number of excess deaths in the UK since the coronavirus outbreak began has fallen by nearly 1,500 over the past six weeks, new figures show.

The total currently stands at just over 63,500 excess deaths, down from around 65,000.

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The drop has been caused by a run of several weeks where the number of deaths registered across much of the UK have been below the five-year average.

Excess deaths are the number of deaths above the average for the corresponding period in previous years.

The decline in the total number of excess deaths could be connected with how the coronavirus outbreak has affected the normal pattern of mortality.