Another 10 deaths linked to coronavirus have been recorded at south Essex hospitals.

NHS England data shows six more fatalities have been confirmed at Basildon Hospital, taking the overall total to 778.

It means there have been 70 deaths in the past week, up from 68 the previous week.

At Southend Hospital, the death toll has risen to 635 – up four from yesterday.

There have been 81 deaths linked to Covid-19 at the hospital in the past week, up from 70 the week before.

Another 875 deaths haver been recorded at hospitals in England today (Tuesday, January 26).

The rise comes as the Office for National Statistics revealed more than 115,000 deaths involving Covid-19 have now occurred in the UK since the pandemic began.

The total is based on the latest available reports on death registrations, plus more recent data on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

Figures from the ONS show the number of UK deaths, based on mentions of Covid-19 on death certificates, passed 100,000 on January 7, 2021.

The Government’s preferred measure of the UK death toll, which counts only those people who died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus, currently stands at 98,531 but is likely to pass 100,000 within the next two days.

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, said: “ONS data show that over 100,000 people in the UK had already died with Covid on their death certificate by January 7, nearly three weeks ago.

"This rose to 108,000 by January 15, and the total now will be nearly 120,000.”

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