COLCHESTER has now recorded 10,770 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, while 9,524 Tendring residents have now returned a positive test.

The latest figures show 193 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Colchester in the week leading up to February 19.

This makes for an infection rate of 99.1 per 100,000 people.

In Tendring, on the other hand, only 182 cases were recorded over the same period, but the infection is higher at 124.2 per 100,000 people. 

The infection rates in Colchester and Tendring remain higher than that of the Essex County Council jurisdiction, which is currently 86.4.

Since the start of the pandemic, the area has recorded 109,596 Covid-19 cases, of which 1,287 came in the seven days to February 19.

Three new coronavirus deaths have also been recorded at the East Suffolk and North Essex Trust in the latest 24-hour period, latest official figures show.

NHS England data shows 1,160 people had died in hospital at the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust as of 5pm on Tuesday (February 23).

That was an increase of three compared to Monday, when there were 1,157.

It means there have been 88 deaths in the past week at the trust, which runs Colchester Hospital, up from 1,072 the previous week.

There has also now been a total of 26 deaths at Clacton Hospital and 33 at Fryatt Hospital.

The victims were among the 9,938 deaths recorded across the East of England.

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death.

This means some of the deaths that were first recorded in the latest period may actually have taken place days earlier.

NHS England guidance states: "Confirmation of Covid-19 diagnosis, death notification and reporting in central figures can take up to several days and the hospitals providing the data are under significant operational pressure."

Only deaths that occur in hospitals where the patient has tested positive for Covid-19 are recorded, with deaths in the community excluded, such as those in care homes.